The Chronicles of Obsession: Innocence
by Jiji Kero
Summary: When the 4th Tournament is delayed, Hwoarang finds himself remember the olds days with Jin and Ling. Special Appearances by Steve & Bryan. Jin x Hwoarang Shounen-ai. Saga Finished 04/08/03.
1. WakeUp Call

Author: Jiji Kero   
Warnings: Language   
Couples: None   
Author's Notes: All right, if you don't like Yaoi then go somewhere else because this is going to a messed up shounen-ai/yaoi Fanfic. This story is the first part of the 4 story series; "Innocence", "Death", & "Rebirth", and losely connected "Origins" which are all part of the Obsession Series. "Innocence" is the very beginning of the chronicles and is mostly from Hwoarang's point of view. Ling has a huge role in this, so if you don't like her then I suggest you read something else. However, please keep in mind, no matter how much time Ling and Hwoarang spend time together, they will **never** make advances farther than hugging. Also, I am trying to achieve the impossible, and that's making my yaoi have plot. ;) I think I ran everything by you, but just to let you know I haven't written a Fanfic or any story for the pass 4 years. So, I might be a little rusty. :) Those damn college classes have better paid off. Anyway, thank you for your time and enjoy! I would appreciate any reviews, not flames, critiques. Thank you again! 

A shimmer of light slipped through the water-stained window into the dark, crowded barracks. Stacks of beds lined up against the concrete walls as if they were wallpaper. A cold draft crept along the floor, searching for shelter from the blinding sun. All the tiresome souls lay curled up in their beds, hoping for another moment's rest before the day would begin. In a sudden moment, the door flung open, slamming against the cold, crumbling wall with clash. 

"ALL RIGHT, GIRLS!! WAKE YOUR ASSES UP!!," the voice hollered from the doorway. The sound of men groaning, resonating around the lightly dimmed room as they slowly, hesitatingly gained consciousness. 

"C'MON, WE DON'T GOT ALL DAY! YOU THINK WE'RE AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE!?!" the man roared as he stomped through the room, yanking blankets off of his subordinates. The loud man stood tall in his green camouflage clothes, glaring across the room as he scared the men out of their beds. He stared at one particular figure that remained in his peaceful state underneath the stiff, rigid blankets. The sergeant snorted, storming towards the man's bed. In one felt swoop, the blankets were ripped off the bed to reveal a red-haired Korean. The angry man hovered over the punk with his hands behind his back holding packages, waiting for a reaction that would beg to him to throw something at the kid. The Korean grunted as he rolled off his side to lie on his back with his elbows supporting his weight. 

"You're lucky I wasn't sleeping nude, Sarge." The crimson man said with a smirk. The commander in charge stood looming over him as his eyes pierced the young man's soul. 

"HWOARANG, one of these days I'm gonna kick your ass and tie it to the watch out tower," he retorted with a loud thundering voice. 

"I love you too, Sarge," Hwoarang replied with a grin. Within a second, the taunted sergeant whipped his hand from behind his back, flinging a huge envelope at the kid's face. The package collided into the Korean's face with a rather loud smack that made him holler a cry. The yell satisfied the sergeant with an air full of victory. 

"Not as much as I love seeing you in pain," He said with a gloat as he walked away to harass the rest of his fellow men. Before he could torment another being he couldn't resist to turn around and say, "Oh, and you got mail." The overseer laughed, leaving the kid in his painful state and continued about his annoying ways. Hwoarang was still hunched over, rubbing the pain away as he glared at his superior. He comforted his pain away and glanced at the package that laid on the ice cold floor. It took all of but second for Hwoarang to realize the package was from China. He leaned over the edge of his creaking bed, reaching for tanned envelope. He pulled it into his grasp and flipped it over to reveal its returned address, even though he already knew who it was from. 

"Ling Xiaoyu." A soft smile appeared across his face for the first time in a long while as he ripped the envelope open. His hand slipped into the envelope and ended up pulling out a folded letter, a photo, and a magazine. He placed his mail gently on his evergreen sheets and fumbled as he tried to open the letter without ripping it. He hated it when people folded their letters into geometrical shape that made it impossible to open. As he struggled over the letter, he calmly told himself not to take a knife to it. Success! He had finally unfolded it to see a chibi picture of Ling hugging a tired, army Hwoarang. 

_"Hey, Hwoarangy!   
I MISS YOU!! You said we were going to hang out more after the Tekken 3 Tournament was over and you go and join the army! You better have a good excuse for that or else I'm going to come down there and give you a spanking right in front of your platoon! Is it Platoon? Or is it Squad? Anyway, I'm sure it's lonely without your little sister annoying you! So, write me back so we can plan our trip to Japan! I've-"_

Hwoarang stopped in his tracks and reread that last sentence, "Plan our trip to Japan?" he said confused. He picked up the magazine hoping for some sort of clue as to what she was talking about. He looked over magazine, reading the katakana title aloud, "Summer Events?" He groaned as he tossed himself on his nearly broken bed, covering his head from all of the confusion. 

"What is that girl thinking!" he cried. He rolled the magazine up in his rough hands, it wasn't long before he felt a flap sticking out of the pages. Curiosity struck across his face as he gazed at the unraveling of the magazine in his callused hands. His mind hoped for an understanding that would be show when he flipped the magazine open to the flap. The moment he laid eyes on the page, all of the emotions were wiped from his face. Bitterness swept up inside his soul as he stared at the image that was before him. 

"The King of Iron Fist Tournament 4" 


	2. Admiration

_  
Author: Jiji Kero   
Warnings: None   
Couples: None   
Author's Notes: This takes place at night the same day from the last chapter. _

Hwoarang peered outside of the plane's window, gazing at the glittering lights of Tokyo. The city seemed to drift on beyond the horizons of the dying of the sun, leaving an endless stream of lively, dancing lights. But the sights of the grand city did little to stir emotions in red haired, anxious man. All that occupied his mind was the rematch against his nemesis, Jin Kazama. He thought through and through, reliving his defeat from the last match, to engrave Jin's movements in his mind. He recalled other battles, conversations, anything that gave him a sense of his enemy's fighting spirit. He shook his head to clear his mind free of the drowning nuisances. He slipped his hand into his pants pocket, feeling around for a slick piece of paper. When he felt it in his grasp, he pulled it out and studied the photo. 

It was a photograph of Ling, Jin, and himself before the tournament had started. It was shortly after school had gotten out; Ling and Jin were still wearing their school uniforms. Hwoarang had promised Ling that he would take her to the amusement park, in hopes she would stop complaining about Heihachi making her go school; something about Heihachi making a deal with Ling's parents that related to the tournament if he remembered correctly. Hwoarang went to the school to pick up Ling, not expecting to see Jin there. Of course, the two ended up arguing. Ling, meanwhile, ran around the field trying to find someone to take picture. Right when the two were in each other's faces, the little shit had to pop up behind them with a big smile and clasped her arms around their necks. Hwoarang and Jin ended up face-pressed against each other, cheek to cheek, with Ling happily grinning above them as the flash from the camera went off. He laughed softly at the memory of himself spitting on his shirt, trying to wipe the feeling of Jin off his face. 

He glanced at his faded reflection from the glass window as another notion overcame him. A smirk came across as he gave the idea more thought. He could picture his drill sergeant hunched over his bed, yelling so loud it would probably wake up the entire army, only to realize his was wasting his energy at a pillow hidden underneath the olive covers. He imagined swearing would reign the superior's words for the next few hours. He made his sergeant's life hell, Hwoarang knew that and was slightly proud of it. All though the Korean did everything in his power to set off his superior, he actually liked the guy. He respected him for putting up with pathetic excuses of human beings and turning them into men. It was very rare for him to feel great admiration for someone. It was even more of a rare find for himself to feel secure with a person. And strangely enough, he felt secure with his drill sergeant as he was with his mother. He wasn't afraid to be himself and if there was something bothering him, he could ask him for some sort of guidance. He had on several occasions. On the outside, the two were like dogs snapping at each other's throats, but on the inside, they were grown men who held each other in high esteem. 

It reminded him of Ling. True, the runt tested his temper many times, but she could never push him so far as to hurt her physically or emotionally. Deep down, he admired her as a fighter and person. Her spirit was that of a raging lion's and her aura was like a calm, yet fierce river. She didn't reframe from saying her mind and she didn't take shit from anyone. That's probably why he grew so attached her and didn't make any objections when she claimed herself to be his little sister. He began to view his return to Japan as a fond memory rather than a vendetta. He looked forward to seeing Ling again and the times they will share… and in his heart, he looked forward to seeing Jin again as well. 


	3. Forgotten Memories

_  
Author: Jiji Kero   
Warnings: Shota is suggested (adult x kid)   
Couples: Hwoarang x Ikari   
Author's Notes: Takes place after Hwoarang arrived in Toyko Airport. Hwoarang was 10 when the flashback occured. _

The red spirited fighter stepped into the worn cab, tossing his ragged army bag to the other end of the seat. The cab driver watched the Korean settle in from his rear mirror, waiting for his chance to ask him his destinations. Hwoarang easily situated himself, these seats were a hell of a lot better than plane's. He rested his head on the back of the seat and took a deep breath, relaxing his aching body. 

"Sakura sutoriito onegaishimasu." _(Sakura Street, please)_Hwoarang politely requested. 

"Dochira?" the drive asked. _(Which one?)_The Korean thought quietly to himself, striving to remember the Japanese language and the location of the tournament as well. 

"Ano sutoriito wa… higashita?" _(The street that's... North-East?)_He said, hoping that was the word for north-east. 

"Yokai." _(Gotcha.)_The man replied obediently. Hwoarang sighed with relief and sunk into his comfortable seat. The army run-away looked out onto the dimly lit streets of Tokyo, wondering if he would recognize anyone that would come across his path. He doubted it, unless they would happen to pass by his old neighborhood. It had been 5 years since he his last set foot on that place. He first moved to the neighborhood when he was around 10 years old, it was shortly after his mother place him in the care of Baek Doo San. Living with Doo San wasn't too bad, he did grow a little lonely since Baek spent mostof his time teaching at the dojo. This was when Hwoarang had no interested at all in Tae Kwon Do, he was merely a boy who kept to himself. A slight frown came across his face, which ceased any further memories to protrude. He sighed once more as he nuzzled into an easeful position and began to drift away. 

  
A little crimson haired boy sat on the concrete steps of the towering apartment building. He lost himself in trance, staring at cement sidewalk that was at his feet. His hands softly draped around legs, pulling his thighs to his chest. His white shirt and blue jeans protected his skin from the burning sun that raged in the sun. However, he gave little notice to the ultraviolet rays and to the world that surrounded him. 

"Waiting for your father?" A voice asked, standing behind the child. The boy snapped back into reality quietly and turned gently to face the voice. The voice belonged to tall, dark man who was dressed in a smooth, black jacket and dress pants with a sleek, white button-up shirt. He had soft raven colored hair that hung in his deep, brown eyes. The boy glanced away thinking of how to respond. 

"He's not my father, but… he does take care of me," the youth replied softly. The tall gentleman placed his hand into his pocket as he sat himself down, next to the kid. 

"I see," he said, softly laying his eyes on the young boy, "I always see you here, waiting for him… Don't you have any friends you can play with?" The silent child sunk his head his sadness, closing his eyes away from the world. 

"No… Not one," he muttered with a hint of a sorrow. The mysterious man faced his head forward as his shut his eyes. 

"That's a shame. It must be lonely playing Nintendo alone," he said under a sigh. The youth's spirit fell even closer to the ground when the man spoke those words. 

"I don't have one of those either." The gentlemen stared at the kid in disbelief. 

"Not even a Nintendo?" The little boy remained motionless, keeping the look of distress on his face. The stranger nudged a little closer to the child as he leaned in closer to speak to him. 

"Would you like to play one?" he asked with a touch of tender in his voice. The young one looked up at the mysterious man with a sense of confusion. 

"Really? You would let me play your Nintendo?" The elder man nodded in response and smiled as he placed his hand on the boy's small shoulder. 

"It's brand new too. I haven't even set up yet," he laughed slightly as he continued, "To tell you the truth, I don't know how to put it together. If you can help me figure it out, you can come over and play it all you want." A sparkle began to grow in the boy's eyes as he turned his body a little more to face this kind gentleman. 

"Really? That would be great!" the child stopped in his tracks before he got anymore excited when he remembered his caretaker, " But Doo San doesn't like video games, I don't think he would be happy with me if I was playing it." The grown man's hand slipped over from the boy's shoulder to his back, pulling the child closer to him as he whispered back a reply. 

"What Doo San doesn't know won't hurt him," the man smiled as he nudged the boy, "Right?" The kid tilted his head a little as he gave it some though. 

"I guess so." The gentleman chuckled at the child's response and slightly tasseled the kid's rich, ruby hair. 

"What's your name, kid?" he asked looking into the youth's eyes through the dark strands of his hair. The kid returned the glance, thinking nothing of it. 

"Hwoarang. And you are-" the gentleman stood up before the boy finish his question and held out his tender hand. 

"Ikari. Rie Ikari." Hwoarang took his hand, pulling himself up off the dirt-covered concrete and proceeded to follow Ikari into the apartment complex. It would be a decent building on the outside, if the owners hadn't slapped some corny logo on it that made it look so trashy. On the inside though, it had soft colored carpets that stretched through the hallways. The walls were decorated with delicate, fancy wallpaper that was lit by draping chandeliers of some sort. They walked up several flights of stairs that carried them higher and higher into the sky. When they came across the 7th floor, Ikari lead the boy to the door in the farthest corner of the hallway. He casually pulled out his eyes, fumbling for the right key. When he found the correct one, he turned the doorknob with the key and held the door open for Hwoarang. 

The young Korean stepped inside, examining the tidy living room. There wasn't much in the place, just mostly furniture and it seemed as if the place was hardly used. He saw the dark, soft leather couch on his right with a fragile glass table in front of it. In the upper right corner was an ebony shelf that held small, delicate icicle like sculptures and directly in front of him was the TV with the Nintendo next to it, still in its box like he said. The little crimson haired boy gasped at the sight of the Nintendo and darted towards it. Ikari laughed at the child's eagerness and stepped in to close the door behind him. 

"Is it all right if I open it?" Hwoarang asked anxiously staring at the box as if it was made of gold. The gentleman chuckled softly and knelt beside him, briefly brushing his legs against the crimson hair child. 

"Go ahead," he whispered, breathing his breath through the scarlet strands of Hwoarang's hair. In a flash, the joy-filled youth had the pieces falling out of box along with the system. The little boy picked up a cord that looked similar to the antenna he had at Doo San's home. He turned his head, facing Ikari with a full-hearted smile and his eyes closed. 

"I think I know how to put this together!" he said rushing off to the back of the TV. The gentleman watched as the boy continued on his adventure and sat down as he waited for the youth to finish his work. 

"Ikari-san?" Hwoarang asked, still hidden from behind the huge TV. Ikarai faced where the voice came from. 

"Hmm?" he replied with his head tilted slightly. The boy's fingers fiddled with the wires as he continued to talk. 

"Are you my friend?" he inquired with a bit of nervousness in his tone. A big grin swept across Ikari's face as he closed his eyes, letting strands of hair fall into his face. 

"Only if you want me to be." He replied charmingly. Hwoarang jumped up from behind TV and leaned his body over the top of it with his hands lightly dangling in the air. 

"That's great! Doo San will be happy that I have a friend, he's always worrying about me. Now, he can meet you-" Ikarai cut off Hwoarang sentence with a serious tone in his voice. 

"It's best that Doo San doesn't know about me." A hurt look came upon Hwoarang's face, his eyebrows arched upward giving Ikari a better view of Hwoarang's eyes. 

"Why?" Ikari lied back a little, shifting his weight to his left arm that held him up. His body faced Hwoarang as his eyes looked into his gentle eyes. 

"People like Doo San are strict with their children's friends. It's the parents, the caretakers who choose the kid's companions. They chose them based on age, rage, background and I'm afraid if you told Doo San about me, he wouldn't accept it." Hwoarang stepped hestitately from behind the television and lightly stepped over to the grown man. 

"But why?" he questioned as he sat down carefully, facing the couch, next to Ikari. Ikari stretched out his right hand, gently stroking Hwoarang soft cheek. 

"For one, I'm Japanese," Ikari paused trying to figure out a way to lie through this one, "I've noticed Doo San only affiliates himself with Koreans. Another problem is that I'm much older than you. Doo San thinks the only friends a person can have is one that is in the same range. He doesn't understand that all ages can befriended each other. So, don't tell him about me, all right?" The Korean sat there, a little confused by all the new vocabulary that Ikari used. All Hwoarang knew was that he didn't want to lose his newly found friend and nodded as his response. A crooked smile grew across Ikari's dark colored face. 

"Good. Very good." He whispered as his thumb rubbed against Hwoarang's silky lips. The child didn't know how to react to this man's touch, but it felt familiar. It reminded the Korean of his mother's touch, one of the few memories he had of her. Without any thought, Hwoarang unconsciously reached for the hand that was caressing his lips and laid his warm, tiny palm on Ikari's hand. Ikari didn't expect the boy would touch him back and didn't know quite what to make of it. Ikari's heart began to pound lightly against his chest and he felt a heat racing through his body. Hwoarang closed his eyes calmly, holding the Ikari's enormous hand against his cheek. Ikari couldn't handle it any longer and slowly pulled himself up. He faced Hwoarang, keeping his hand to the young boy's cheek and leaned over. He slightly opened his mouth, ready to kiss this young, handsome Korean. Hwoarang opened his eyes and saw the room before him then noticed a sculpture on the jet-black shelf. He released Ikari's hand and rose up just as Ikari was leaning in on him. The little boy rushed over and gasped over the piece of artwork, he didn't even notice Ikari was trying to kiss him. 

"Akuma!"_(Wild Horse)_ he exclaimed clutching the figure in his hands. Ikari laughed a little at his missed opportunity and looked over at Hwoarang. 

"You like horses?" Hwoarang nodded as he clasped the sculpture to his chest. Ikari rose to his feet and casually walked over to Hwoarang. 

"Have you ever seen one?" he asked, hoping for a negative response as he thought out another plan. Hwoarang looked over the figure, running his graceful fingers over the shapes and contours of the horse. 

"My mother and I use to have one... but I had to give him away when I came here with Doo San. I wish I could ride one again." The tall man placed his hands gently over Hwoarang's shoulders as he leaned over the red haired child. 

"You're in luck. I have a friend who owns several of them. I'm sure he would let you ride one." Hwoarang looked at Ikari with another full-hearted smile. 

"Really?" he said with joy. Ikari nodded his head in reply. He knelt down to Hwoarang's once again and looked at him straight in the eyes. 

"All we have to do is figure out a way pass Doo San and then... we can spend some time alone… Just you and me... and the horses." 


	4. Improvising

_  
Author: Jiji Kero   
Warnings: Language, Racism, Shounen-Ai   
Couples: Hwoarang x Steve   
Author's Notes: I'd like to thank the Dictionary of British Slang and the Sake Scale webpage for helping me to make this chapter. :) _

"Oi! Oi!" _(Hey! Hey!)_the cab driver said, trying to wake up his passenger. Hwoarang slowly drifted his eyes slightly open, seeing nothing but a blur. 

"OIII!" _(HEY!!)_the driver exclaimed. Hwoarang suddenly snapped back to the real world and his eyes flipped open completely. He had just realized he fell asleep. He pulled himself forward and slightly stretched by straighten his back. 

"Ohayougozaimasu." _(Morning.)_The driver commented with a smile. The Korean shook his head from any sleepiness that still remained in his body as he yawned. He looked outside trying to get his bearings, just in the knick of time to see the registration hall. He nearly jumped at the window as he watched it passed by. 

"K-koko! Koko ni!" _(Here! Right here!)_the red head stammered as grabbed his heavy, green bag. The driver swerved towards the sidewalk, bring them to a sudden a halt that nearly forced them forward. The driver glanced at the meter and turned his body around to face his customer. 

"Go-sen-en desu." _(That's 5,000 yen.)_The driver read from the meter once more. Hwoarang reached into his pocket, fumbling around for some yen. He pulled out a set of six 10,000 yen bank notes and tossed in the tray, he supposed the driver deserved a 10,000-en tip. He opened the taxi door and rose out of the cab, flinging his bag over his shoulder as if it was as light as a pillow. The Korean walked over to the Mishima Grand Hall, keeping his eyes on the sidewalk. 

As Hwoarang approached the set of stairs that led to double doors of the registration hall, he heard fast paced footsteps coming his way. Before Hwoarang could even look up, a tanned blond dressed in Hawaiian shirt and crimson red pants with jumpers hanging at his side runs into the Korean, knocking him to the floor. Hwoarang landed on his back, letting out a growl as his bones smashed his skin against the hard concrete sidewalk. The Korean grabbed the back of his head, feeling a slight aftershock from his skull hitting the ground. He opened his eyes only to have his vision blocked from seeing the sky as his army bag came flying down setting a crash course for his face. 

"SHIIIIIIT!!" he screamed as the bag soared towards him. The blond man clenched his eyes shut, hearing a huge thud colliding with the human body. He opened an eye, watching the Korean groan as he struggled to throw the bag off himself. 

"Aw, bloody hell. I'm sorry, mate!" the British said as he stepped over the Korean, tossing the bag off to the side. The blond held out his hand to Hwoarang. The red head sighed at the extended and grabbed the blond's forearm. The British man hoisted Hwoarang up in no time. 

"Blimey! You're a light one!" he said in reference to Hwoarang's weight. The Korean frowned at the Brit's comment as he brushed himself off. The blond laughed at the Korean's action and smiled. 

"Aww, don't get all mardy, mate!" he said as he gave Hwoarang a good whack on the shoulder. Hwoarang stared at the odd man as he lifted his bag on the floor. 

"I wasn't being… mardy." The Korean retorted. The Brit chuckled at the Asian's attempt to speak British slang and gave him another smacking pat on his back. 

"That's gradeley!" he exclaimed happily, "Are ya here for the pagga?" he asked with a dorky smile. Hwoarang looked at him dumbfounded. 

"Pagga?" he said confused with his eyebrows arched down. 

"The tournament!" the blond said with a laugh. Hwoarang wasn't sure if wanted to tell the truth with this guy for fear of what words and actions might come as a result of it. 

"Yeaaah…" Hwoarang finally said hesitatingly. 

"That's great, mate!" the Brit shouted as his arm gripped over the Korean's shoulders, pulling him closer. This guy was way too touchy for Hwoarang. "I'm game too! Name's Steve! Steve Fox." Hwoarang pushed off the British's arm and kept distance enough from him so that he wouldn't be able to grab him again. 

"I'm Hwoarang." Steve stared at him with an arched eye. 

"Ho what?" the Brit asked with bewilderment. Hwoarang's right eye twitched at the sound of "Ho" and let out a sigh to keep himself cool down. 

"HWOA-RANG." The Korean stated with every annunciation he could put into it. The baffled look didn't even fade on the blondie. 

"Who-a-rung? Bah, screw it, I'm calling you Ho." Hwoarang stiffed an irritated remark and just let out a hissing sigh instead. Hwoarang started walking up the flight of stairs with Steve tagging closely behind him. 

"You know you can't register, mate." Hwoarang stopped dead in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at the foreigner. Steve seeped in air through his teeth as he continued, "The buggers decided to delay the tournament for two bloody months. A bloke can't even register until a week within the pagga." The twitch in Hwoarang's right eye returned again. 

"You've gotta be joking." The Brit shook his head and sighed at the poor man's denial. 

"Check for yourself, mate." The Korean rushed up the stairs and saw the note posted on the dark, double doors. Hwoarang hovered over the paper as he read it. The Korean slammed his fist into the wood carved door, creating an indent. 

"DAMN IT!" He said in an outrage. Hwoarang hunched over the note with his fingernails digging into the cracks of the wood. Steve came up behind him and hung his arm around the Korean's shoulders once again. 

"I say we get pissed," Steve said exhaling a bit of air. Hwoarang didn't have to think about the meaning behind that one since he was thinking the same thing. 

"Let's," Hwoarang replied sadly, "Let's get pissed ass, drunk."   


Steve tossed his head as he chugged away at the glass bottle while Hwoarang gaped with his jaw dropping to the floor. The Brit slammed his drink down when he was finished. 

"That was fuckin' 14.5% alcohol!" Hwoarang exclaimed. Steve squealed out a laughed as he polluted the air with his sake stench breath. 

"Yeah, that was great!" the blondie replied, not even thinking about it, "Hey, bartender! Can ya get me another one of these?" he said waving the bottle around for more indication. Hwoarang snatched the bottle from Steve's hand, fearing the alcohol would kick in at any moment. 

"You idiot, that was the equivalent of four beers in 20 seconds!" he stated as he glanced over the bottle's label for information. Steve stiffed a laughed as he rested his elbows on the counter. 

"Oh, come on, don't be such a wuss. You couldn't even taste the alcohol!" he retorted, "Hey bartender!" he cried trying to get the guy's attention while Hwoarang read the contents on the sake bottle. 

"Well, when it's –30 on the goddamn sake scale, of course you're not gonna be able to taste it!" Hwoarang shouted at the blondie, placing the empty bottle on the counter. Steve started snorting laughs as he lied his head down, trying to focus while the sake started the effects on him. 

"Ha, he, uh, what's a sake scale?" he spoke with as much concentration he could use. 

"It's the scale sake's graded on. The higher the positive number the more dry it is while a more negative number is sweet. Most sakes are around –3 to 10 and you had a –30. That sake is the sweetest you can get!" the Korean yelled. Steve was still resting his head on the table, fiddling with the bottle in his hand. 

"Wow. This stuff is good. I like this, I like this… jobbie," he said clutching the bottle in his hand, "I like this type of alcohol... What's it called again?" Hwoarang sighed as he closed eyes. 

"Sake." The red head stated. The blondie snorted a laugh as his head plopped on the counter. 

"Oh, right," he said as he laughed some more, his voice echoing off the counter. "Oh, wait!" he exclaimed as he lifted his head up, "I wanted some more this stuff," he said, looking at the bottle in his hand. 

"Oh, no, you're not gonna have any more of that," Hwoarang declared as he stole his bottle away. 

"NO! My bottle! Waaahh!" Steve cried reaching for the bottle that Hwoarang kept out of his reach. 

"Its empty, you idiot!" He barked at the Brit. The Korean thought fast, trying to figure out a way to deal with this drunk. Hwoarang glanced at his own, personal sake and smiled. He placed in front of Steve, "Here, drink this. It's Kira. You won't be able to chug this one down." Steve whisked the bottle into his hands and threw his head back as he began to chug. Two seconds went by right as the blondie sprayed the alcohol all over the counter. Hwoarang grinned to himself as he placed his elbows on the counter, resting his head in his hands. 

"What the bloody hell is this?!" Steve said with shock, glaring at the evil sake. The coil smile remained on Hwoarang's face as he spoke. 

"Sake, only its +15 on the scale, extremely dry with a lot of acidity." Hwoarang quoted like a scholar. Steve groaned at the sake bottle before him and began to pout. The Brit skimmed around the room, trying to figure out where the bathroom was. 

"Hey, Ho, where's the john?" Steve asked still looking around. Hwoarang glared at him for using that word. 

"DON'T CALL ME THAT." He said stated explicitly. 

"Aye, sure, whatever you want Ho, just tell me where the bloody john is!" Steve cried desperately. Twitch. Hwoarang was going to have to call his right eye that. 

"To.. your.. right.. all.. the.. way.. in.. the.. back." He said trying to control his breath with every word he spoke. With those last finished words, Steve twirled around in his seat and jumped to feet. He reached into his pocket, pulling out a cell phone and placed it on the counter. 

"Keep an eye on this for me, eh?" He said as he ran off to the bathroom, not without a few trips and stumbles of course. Hwoarang watched the drunk scurry off into the hallway and glanced back at the phone. Another coy smile smirked across his lips as he picked it and held it in his hand while he opened his bag. He tossed the phone in with his clothes and zipped the bag up. 

"Like he's gonna remember that he gave me the phone." He said as he pulled his sake bottle into his hand, taking a sip. Well, Hwoarang came across the impossible. He found someone more annoying Ling. _I should introduce her to him_, he thought to himself with a grin. Hwoarang debated on whether or not if he should leave. However, he didn't like the thought of bouncing and then come across the person again. The guy after all, was going to be in the tournament as well. As the Korean pondered, Steve came slowly back to the counter. 

"I feel a lot better." The Brit commented. The red head snapped out of his thoughts, pulling himself back in the conversation as if he was plotting nothing. 

"That's usually what happens when you throw up." Hwoarang said as he took another sip of his chilled sake. The blondie turned his back to the counter and hoisted his elbows on the counter top for support, stretching his legs out. 

"Hey, how long have you lived been here?" Steve asked with curiosity. Hwoarang pulled out his right wrist and looked at his watch, doing the math in his head. 

"2 hours and 13 minutes." Hwoarang quoted exactly. The Brit looked at Hwoarang with an arched eye. 

"Don't wind-up with me, bloke." Steve demanded. For some reason, Hwoarang started to catch on to the Brit's strange language. 

"I'm not lying." He replied, softly sipping his sake. 

"Then where ya from?" he asked, turning to face the red head. 

"Korea. I lived here for 13 years though." He said pushing his sake aside as he rested on his right arm. 

"Shit, I thought you were born and raised here with all that bloody talk about scales." He said with a laugh. At that moment, Steve heard some other girls laughing from a table nearby. He was able to spot them when they started up their giggling again. He noticed that they staring and pointing at Hwoarang, even blushing now and then. The blondie nudged the Korean's leg. 

"Hey, those girls over there are getting off you." He whispered, leaning to the side of Hwoarang's shoulder. The Korean took a glimpse over at the table with the giggling girls. _Shit, I should have left_, he thought to himself. If its one thing Hwoarang couldn't stand, it was a herd of Ling Xiaoyus. 

"I'm not interested in those type of girls." Hwoarang stated as he lightly shut his eyes. Steve browsed across the room, looking for a pretty target. 

"Are there any birds that you fancy here?" Hwoarang didn't even look up to see if there was anyone who caught his eye. 

"Nah, I don't go for outer species." He replied with a smirk. Steve glared jokingly at Hwoarang and smacked him across the back of the head. The Korean laughed, breathing in some air, "How about you?" Steve glanced from table to table, spying any girl that may have potential. 

"Narr. Not a damn one... Good thing I get off with birds and blokes." He said elbowing Hwoarang with a snicker. 

"Sounds like a good idea. More fish in the sea I always say." The Korean said with a shrug. Steve scraped his feet against the floor, pulling his legs underneath as he peered at Hwoarang. 

"Angon there, mate. You're not scared of a "poof" ?" Hwoarang shifted more of his weight to his other arm as he leaned more on his left leg. 

"No," he glanced over at Steve and budged his foot with a tap of his combat boots, "So, did it increase your chances, any guys here that catch your eye?" _I can probably lose him if he hooks with someone tonight_, Hwoarang schemed. The Brit scouted once again, seeing if any guys grasped his attention. 

"Aside from you, there's no one interesting," he said with a hint of a flirt. _Oh, shit_, Hwoarang said in his mind, he knew what was coming. "How about you? Do you swing that way? Or do you only bat on one side?" Steve asked, leaning closer to the Korean. 

"I'm taken if that's what you're asking." Hwoarang quickly replied. The Brit inhaled a hiss between his teeth. 

"Well, that's some hard-shit, mate," he said, inching closer to Hwoarang, "Here I was thinking we could shack up for a night." He said with his breath lightly floating on the Korean shoulder. 

"Yeah, I don't she would be happy with me about that." Hwoarang said, not flinching at the blondie's advances. _He better get the idea_, Hwoarang murmured in his thoughts. Steve stared relentlessly at the Korean's bronze, silky skin that curved around his well-toned arms, waiting for him to cringe or show any action of abhorrence. Hwoarang could feel Steve eyeing his body and turned his head, facing him directly. 

"What?" Hwoarang asked sternly, staring in his eye. A huge smile swept across Steve's face as he started to burst out laughing and he gave Hwoarang another slap on the back, sending Hwoarang hunched over in his seat. The Brit collapsed back against the counter still chuckling. 

"Blimey, I thought you were winding-up. You're probably the only bloke who isn't homophobic." He commented as he grabbed the sake bottle, taking a sip. 

"You were testing me." Hwoarang said with sudden realization, looking up at Steve. Steve coughed as he pulled the bottle away from his alcohol-drenched lips, gagging on the dry taste of Kira. 

"Many blokes cant about being open-minded," he said, still choking on the sake, "but in reality their idea of being open-minded is keeping their backs to the wall. They think we're animals or something, that we've gotta take it up their ass." He explained as he glared at the sake bottle he held in his hand, wondering if it's safe to take another drink. Hwoarang's eyes shift to the floor as he thought about it. 

"It makes sense… Its human nature to fear what they don't understand." The red head remarked. 

"Still the same fuckin' faggot." A harsh voice retorted to the Korean. Steve and Hwoarang both looked up to see a gray haired man dressed in navy pants and a light emerald colored open shirt with a tattoo curled on the left side of his neck. The Korean frowned at the sight of the troublemaker. 

"Bryan, you're still kicking I see." Hwoarang commented. Steve glanced back and forth between the two, confused. 

"You know this bloke, Ho?" The Brit asked, glaring at Bryan. Hwoarang sighed deeply, he knew Bryan was going to tormenting him about that nickname 

"Unfortunately." The Korean replied back, preparing himself for the coarse man's words. 

"Ho?" Bryan said with a laugh, "Well, its about time people start calling you for what you are, **HO**." Hwoarang closed his eyes and paid no attention to Bryan's comments. The Korean reached for the sake in Steve's hand and pulled it into his grip, taking a huge sip. Bryan started cackling at the boy's silence and proceeded to taunt him, "Aww, what's the matter, **HO**? You miss Jin? Are you still jerking off thinking of that Kazama boy, **HO**?" Bryan said with a menacing grin. 

"Not as much as Lei Wulong does thinking of you." The Korean retorted with a smile, narrowing his eyes at Bryan. The smirk fell from the bully's face as he began to scowl at Hwoarang with raging eyes. In a swift movement, Bryan clenched his fist and raised his hand for a hard blow to the Korean's stomach. Hwoarang saw it coming and did a duck n roll off his chair, grabbing his bag just as Bryan's blow smashed into the counter. The Korean had rolled forward and slid his right leg braced himself to a stop. Steve jumped out of the savage's way as the counter shattered like a glass window, sending chucks of wood and splinters flying in the air. Hwoarang watched as the debris cleared the room as Bryan glared over his shoulder. People rushed for the door while others watched in fear. 

"FUCK YOU, you piece of shit." The cyborg roared at Hwoarang. The Korean tossed his army bag over his shoulder while placing his other hand on his wait. 

"No thanks, I don't do assholes." Hwoarang rebutted. Bryan's eyes shifted to the floor as he his lips curled a sneer. 

"Get the fuck outta here, you queer." Bryan bellowed, standing over the crushed counter. 

"I plan to," the Korean said, turning his back to the beast and walking away. Bryan glanced up at Hwoarang one more time and a grimace swept across his face. 

"Oh, **Ho**, if you happen to see your mother, tell her she did a good job naming her kid after herself." The man blurted out. Hwoarang halted to a stop and peered over his shoulder with eyes of fury. The Korean whipped around to face the monster as he threw his bag. The red head clenched his fist, digging his fingernails into his skin. The tightened grip in his hand flexed his muscles, giving him broader built. 

"You wanna say that again, you little fucker?" Hwoarang asserted loudly with anger ripped in his tones. Bryan returned the glare as he moved to face him. 

"Looks like we gotta another mama's boy, another pathetic case like Jin." The man snorted in reply. The Korean's eyes began to steam with fire and his body torn into a fighting stance. Hwoarang wasn't angry that Bryan compared him to Jin, he didn't care about that. It wasn't just about Hwoarang's mother, but about Jin too. True, he hated the guy, but he knew about his mother Jun Kazama. Hwoarang was told she was a spirited woman who loved with all her heart, which reminded him of his own mother. He also knew how much Jin loved her and continued to carry out her beliefs. That was the one thing that kept Hwoarang from completely hating Jin. The truth was he respected Jin for his constant love of his mother and for doing everything in her honor. Hwoarang respected Jun Kazama, and that aspect of Jin. He respected his own mother, Baek, Ling, hell, even his drill sergeant. And if anyone, **anyone**, insulted or hurt the people he respected in anyway, they would pay with their blood. 

"You're a dip shit who never knew when to close his fucking trap!" Hwoarang growled, raising his clenched fists and slightly sliding his legs in opposite direction. In a moment's second, Hwoarang leaned over his left leg and sprung from all the strength he gathered, lunging at Bryan. Steve watched Hwoarang loose his cool and saw him racing for Bryan. 

"Shit!" The Brit exclaimed as he did a run jump off the barstool, doing a leapfrog over Bryan and rushing at Hwoarang. The Korean desisted in his steps when Steve met up with him and grabbed both of his fists. Hwoarang stared angrily at the blond, trying to break his hands from of his grip. 

"Get the fuck out of my, Steve!" Hwoarang roared. The Brit's hands gripped even tighter as the Korean tried to shake himself free. 

"Don't be a fuckin' div! There's innocent people here and this is beneath you!" Steve said, trying to convince Hwoarang. 

"Beneath him? That fuckin' faggot lives on his hands and knees, there's no such thing as beneath him! Figuratively and literally!" the cold hearted man taunted with a laugh. Hwoarang scowled at Bryan, growing more anger with every passing second. The Korean yanked his hands to his lower right, pulling Steve along with him. The Korean hunched over, pulling the blond behind him as he raised his right leg and flipped it around in a 360 circle. Hwoarang delivered a blow into Steve's back, driving his heel into his spine and broke his hands free. Steve collided to ground, his face scraping against the floor from the strong shock that was deliver from the kick. The Brit wasted not time and rolled over, springing himself back up just in time to grab Hwoarang around the waist. 

"Let me go!" Hwoarang screamed as he glared at Bryan who just stood there, taunting and laughing at him. Steve hung on for dear life and took brutal hits to the face from Hwoarang's elbows. 

"You're gonna get yourself in trouble with the pigs! He's not worth it!" the blond said, trying to convince the fiery red head. It was to no avail, Hwoarang continued fight, "DAMN IT, HWOARANG!! Get a hold of yourself!" The Brit cried. The Korean paused for a moment at the sound of his name, but still remained growling. Steve took the opportunity and continued, "Would you want your mum to see you like this? Even if it was for her sake?" Hwoarang's eyes grew wide when those words pierced his heart…   


_"I hate that man! I HATE HIM!" the lady screamed, holding her head in her hands. _

"He was just trying help, mom… wasn't he?" the boy said as he lightly touched her shoulder, trying to comfort her. 

"Yes, but…" she stopped and glanced up at her son. He always had soothing, gentle touch. She laughed a little to herself as she took her child's hand, "You are so much more forgiving than I am, Hwoarang." She pulled her son into her loving arms and held him close to her heart. "How did I end with such a loving, caring son?" she asked herself. The mother took her son's head into her soft hands as she shed tears of joy. "Promise me you'll stay like that. Don't lose that innocence, not for me or anyone."   


Hwoarang stood there liked a stunned, wounded animal, not knowing what to do. The blond slipped his hands from the Korean's waist when he reached a calm state. Hwoarang closed his eyes, shutting the pain out from his mind and took a deep sigh. Steve placed a hand on the Korean's shoulder, concerned about his state of being. 

"You all right?" he asked. Hwoarang nodded quietly and turned around. 

"I'll be fine." The Korean assured. Hwoarang walked passed the blond and reached for his bag, flinging it over his shoulder once again, "I'll be hanging around the Shinto district if you want to stop by. I'll catch ya later." He added. 

"Ta, love. Ta." Steve said, waving a light goodbye. The Brit watched as Hwoarang drifted away like a lone wolf, keeping the pain hidden deep inside his soul. 


	5. Feelings

_  
Author: Jiji Kero   
Warnings: Language, Trigonometry, Sexuality   
Couples: Ling x Hwoarang (friendship wise), Jin x Hwoarang (several implications)   
Author's Notes: Once again, I have to thank another webpage, the Trigonometry Tutorial, for helping me understand math once again._

"Feelings" 

Hwoarang walked along the sidewalks in the massive city of Tokyo, sealing off his thoughts. So many questions came to his mind, about his mother and himself. The question that slammed him the most was the one Steve yelled at him. Hwoarang stopped in the mist of his tracks, letting the words slice in his mind. 

"Would she be happy with the way I become?" he asked himself, afraid to answer truthfully. Hwoarang knew he had changed so much since he was a child. He use to be forgiving, compassionate, and trusting, but… the path he had taken to adulthood, like most others, threw him into a corrupted world and the outcome had left him cold. Things were not they were when one was a child. He learned that quickly, shortly after he arrived in Japan. One thing he learned about human beings was that they were selfish who used and lied to others for their own personal benefits. Hell, he even did it with his friends when they would do Fake Fights. The more he thought about human nature, the more his nightmares began to surface. He shook his head violently, clearing his mind of any thoughts and continued walking. 

_I should call Ling_, he mentioned to himself, _Not right now though_. The Korean was a little too shaken up to engage in a lively, upbeat conversation. Hwoarang glanced up from the sidewalk to see he was back home, the one he lived at since he was sixteen years old. He had reached the quiet, desolate part of Tokyo, which was barely near the center of the city. He passed around an abandoned building and stood right in front of isolated factory. Like the other buildings in this area, it had been deserted a long time ago. It was a rice mill that had a towering storage mill, a classic watchtower to keep an eye out for trespassers, and a huge rectangular, metal structure that was the factory itself. A tall, wired fence surrounded the entire compound with barbwire on top. Hwoarang was before the entrance that was the watchtower and strolled along the fence, looking for the cuts him and his friends made when they first came here. He found the long slit in the fence and pushed his way through, ending up on the other. The Korean stretched a little and took a deep breath… he was home. 

"I wonder if any of the guys still hang out here," he pondered as he paced towards the old factory until he was in front of it. He was before a towering door that was used for loading the trucks, which he and his gang hardly used unless they were making a two wheeler course. Hwoarang went to the left side of the building and went through the normal, human size door. He stopped once he was inside and observed the entire place. Nothing had changed about the "bachelor pad", there were still 4 different levels and better yet, still standing. The building was organized and leveled rather strangely. 

Hwoarang and his friends use to joke, saying that this place was designed by a pimp. It looked more like a party house than a factory. On the right side against the middle of the wall was a wide fifteen-foot, metal walkway that was ten feet up in the air. That area was claimed by Tomo, which was fine since the only way up there was a ladder. In the upper right corner, the floor reached up twenty feet in the air and stood against the east and north wall. The edges of that area were surrounded by two poles that acted as a fence and luckily, a secure staircase that ran along poles of Tomo's pad lead up to that plot of concrete. That floor belonged to Ren, who later was able to hang stolen tapestries from the beams, sealing him off from the room. Then in the upper left corner was the office that had the walls reach up to the beams and was twenty-eight feet in the air, on the 3rd floor was where Hwoarang lived. The great thing about the office was the entire south wall was made with three glass panels that stood side by side. Hwoarang had to beat the crap out of his friends in order to claim that domain, but it was worth it. That left poor Neko with the small walkway that was 12 feet below and in front of Hwoarang's room, but they were able break through Hwoarang's south wall and create a door way to the 2nd floor. The rest of the floor that was on ground level was their living room slash kitchen. It was also was their playground. 

Hwoarang smiled brightly and headed for his room. He walked underneath Neko's walkway and entered the section of the building through the opening. He climbed up the stairs, passing by Neko's floor and realized all of his stuff was still there. Hwoarang wondered a while, trying to figure out where they could have gone at this time of the night. Him and his friends usually chilled at the "pimp pad", playing games and eating. He shrugged and continued on his way until he came upon his door. He inhaled deeply and turned the knob, hoping no one took it over while he was gone. He pushed the door open, clenching his eyes shut and stepped into his old room. He flipped his eyes open to see that nothing had changed, everything was exactly the way he left it. His king size bed was still in the upper right hand corner and his mahogany dresser remained against the east wall. The punching bag suspended from the beams in the room in the lower left-hand corner with a beanbag lying on the floor. Hwoarang tossed his heavy bag on the floor and collapsed on his bed, which made the floor creak. The Korean paused and turned on his side to look at the floor. 

"Shit, is this side gonna cave in, too?" Hwoarang asked himself. He thought about it for a few seconds then disregard it. 

"I don't think I'm gonna be trying to push it through the floor like last time." He said chuckling to himself. He glanced over to the hole in the floor in the other upper corner. He smirked to himself, remembering that day. It was the first time he saw Ling so pissed off at him and it was the first time in three years since he was at school. 

Ling waited impatiently outside in her school uniform, leaning against the men's bathroom in the park. She frowned, pouting her lips as she tried to watch the Sakura blooming, hoping that more time would pass if she paid attention to something else. She grunted as her patience disappeared and walked over to the other side of the brick wall. She stood in front of the bathroom with her legs apart and her fists clenched to her side. She pounded on the door with her hands until she heard something from the other side. 

"WHAT, GODDAMN IT?! Hwoarang shouted through the door. 

"Are you done yet?!" she yelled with her eyebrows arched downwards. She heard his feet scuffling around the room and banged the door with her foot, demanding a reply. 

"NO!" She exhaled heavily and leaned against the door, looking at the watch on her wrist. She growled when she realized the time and turned around to face the door again. The door faced her wrath once more as she thundered against the metal door with her fists. 

"Are you done now!?" she growled. Hwoarang swung the door open and leaned his right hand on the doorway. He stood in the doorway wearing a white, button up collar shirt that draped over his toned body. His shirt wasn't tucked in and hung slightly away from his smooth abdomen. The cuffs on the shirt remained unbutton, exposing his sleek wrists. His black dress pants stretched nicely over his muscular legs and his crimson hair dangling in his eyes. Ling stood before the handsome Korean gaping. 

"NO." Hwoarang replied firmly. In an instant, Ling jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck with a joyful smile on her face. 

"KAWAII DESU YO!!" _(YOU ARE SO CUTE!!)_ She exclaimed, nuzzling against him. Hwoarang struggled to pull her arms off him and stared down at her. 

"Why are you in a hurry?" Ling blinked, remembering the time and let out a scream. 

"I'm gonna be late for school!" she cried, bouncing up and down. Hwoarang sighed tiredly and grab his clothes. 

"All right, let's go," he said, closing the door. Upon hearing those words, Ling happily skipped off to the motorcycle and hopped on. Hwoarang walked over to his vehicle and tossed his clothes in one of the bags he had hanging on the side of the seat. The Korean tucked in his shirt and plopped onto the seat. 

"How much time do we have?" he asked, popping the kickstand off the ground. Ling glanced at her watched again and placed her hands on his side. 

"10 minutes." Hwoarang skimmed around at the roads and saw there was a traffic jam. 

"Shit," he murmured to himself and looked across the three mile park where the school was by, "Screw it," he started the engine and gave it a few pumps, making the motorcycle thunder like a storm. 

"Hang on!" He yelled over his shoulder as he peeled across the park's parking lot. Ling wrapped her arms around just in time just before Hwoarang drove over the curb that led into the park. The Korean speeded across the grass through the park at nearly sixty miles per hour, ignoring all the outraged people. The Chinese girl rested her chin on Hwoarang's shoulder, trying to ask him a question. 

"Do the clothes fit you?" she hollered into his ear, hoping her voice was loud enough against the wind. 

"They fit fine!" He shouted back and laughed a little, "You should steal more often!" Ling grinned and closed her eyes, snuggling against him. 

"And to think it was my first time!" she replied happily, tighten her grip around his waist. Ling peered over Hwoarang's shoulder and saw that they were almost out of the park. She also noticed that they were headed for an intersection at the corner of the park. She let a squeal as Hwoarang darted off the grass and through the intersection, dodging cars left and right. Cars honked their horns while others veered out of their way until the Korean drove along the middle yellow line, between the cars. He saw the turnoff for the school and skidded the motorcycle to make a sharp right, squeezing between several jam-packed cars. He zoomed through the school's entrance and roared through the parking lot until he was right in front of the school. Several high school students stared at the stunning Korean as he parked against the red line curb, kicking out the stand. 

"Hey, does your school give parking tickets or do they tow the vehicle?" He inquired turning around to face her. Ling slide off the bike and let a laugh, hopping around. 

"That was fun!" She exclaimed, not answering his question. Hwoarang snapped his fingers at the highly active girl, trying to get her attention. 

"Hey, focus! Does your school tow or give tickets?" he said as he turned off the engine. Ling stood still for a moment and pondered as he got off the bike. 

"They give tickets!" she finally figured out, holding a finger in the air. Hwoarang rummaged around in his bike's bags looking for Ling's belongings while she came to another realization. "What a minute, are you going to park here?" Hwoarang pulled out her backpack and handed it to her. 

"No, I thought we'd have a picnic before going to class." He said sarcastically. Ling frowned at his comment as she clenched the bag to her chest. 

"But that's 20,000-en fine!" she stated as Hwoarang buttoned up the cuffs on his wrist. 

"That's no problem. I yanked the license plate off a car last night so they couldn't make me pay if they wanted to." He replied, pulling out the school jacket Ling stole from the store. The hyper girl shrugged and tossed the bag onto her back, waiting for Hwoarang to start walking. The Korean held the jacket on his right arm and turned to grinning Ling. 

"You happy?" he said with a crooked smile. Ling nodded and started hopping alternating on each foot. 

"Of course! I finally get to show you off at my school!" she replied with closed eyes and a bright smile. Hwoarang laughed and started walking towards the school doors. 

"You make it sound like a "Show and Tell" thing." He commented, he didn't know how she talked him into this, but there was nothing to do except go back to school. Ling skipped to the Korean's left side and tag along with him like a puppy. Along their walk, the Chinese girl noticed all the girls had their eyes glued to her friend. Some girls waved their hands in front of their face trying to cool themselves while others tittered wildly. Ling growled like a dog whose territory was being invaded and grabbed Hwoarang's hand with hers. She wrapped her other hand around his arm and stuck her tongue out at the staring audience. The red head looked down to see that his left arm had gained some luggage and tried to shake her off, but she a death grip on him. He gave up after a while and just strolled into the school building. Ling led them nearby to the visitors' office and finally released Hwoarang's arm. The Korean glared at the jacket in his hand; loathing the moment he would have to where it. All of sudden, the Chinese girl smacked Hwoarang in the side. 

"Put it on!" she demanded. Hwoarang let out a breath of air as he slipped his arms into the jacket. 

"God, I'm gonna look so preppy." Ling watched as he pulled the jacket over his shoulders and started snorting some laughs when he looked up. 

"NERD!" she cried, pointing at him, "You look like a Catholic school boy!" Hwoarang glared at her evilly. 

"Shut up!" he replied. 

"Xiaoyu-san? Is that you?" a voice asked from a window in the wall. Ling's attention snapped towards the voice when she recognized who it was. 

"Sukame-chan!" the Chinese girl replied happily and skittered over to the visitors' window while dragging Hwoarang by the arm, "Sukame-chan, this is my friend, Hwoarangy! He's gonna be going to school with me today!" A woman dressed in a white outfit with light brown hair sat behind the window. 

"Oh, so, you're Hwoarang. Aren't you a strapping, young gentleman." She said in kind voice with a gentle smile. Ling stiffed a laugh at the thought of Hwoarang being a "gentleman". 

"Hajimemashite, Sukame-san." _(Nice to meet you, Mrs. Sukame)_Hwoarang replied in formal Japanese with a humble bow as he kicked Ling in the ankle. The Chinese girl held back a yelp and glared at him with narrows eyes. 

" Hajimemashite," _(Nice to meet you)_ she said as she lightly placed a clipboard in front of him, "I just need you to fill out your name and write down when you came in, all right?" The red head took the pen from the clipboard and started to fill it out. 

"Oh, I don't have a surname just to let you know." 

"That's all right. You enjoy your visit here, okay?" she said with a smile. Ling waved a goodbye and started pulling Hwoarang behind her. 

"Thank you and it was nice meeting you." Hwoarang replied in his chivalrous tone as he was being pulled away. 

"Your welcome, Hwoarang-san." She said with a raise of her hand. As soon as they were out of sight of the visitor's window, Ling lagged behind the Korean then kicked him in the ass. Hwoarang whipped around and glared at her. She grinned as he slipped out of the jacket and tossed in the trash. 

"Hey, I stole that for you!" she whined. Hwoarang stretched, feeling free from the school boy jacket. 

"Yeah, I don't care," He said with smirk, "So, where's your homeroom?" Ling glanced around, getting her bearings straight before she pointed to the right. Hwoarang followed closely behind and smacked her across the head when he started to walk beside her. Ling scowled at the Korean as she rubbed the back of her head and shoved him into the wall. Students in the hallway watched as the two smacked each other and began to make a way for them, fearing they might get hurt instead. Hwoarang laughed and strolled next to her, constantly bumping his shoulder into her. Ling growled a little and started to use her shoulder to push him back, but she was no near as strong as him so she just placed her foot in front of his path. The Korean tripped over her foot and nearly did a face plant with the tiled floor before he regained his balance. 

"You're such a little shit." He stated as he wrapped his arm around her neck, giving her noogie. Ling wailed as tried to pull herself out of his grip. Hwoarang observed down the hallway at all doors and kept the little brat in a tight squeeze. 

"Hey, which one is your classroom?" he asked lugging her around his arm. Ling finally squirmed out of his arm and stomped on his foot with her heel. 

"Ah! God!" he cried and slapped her shoulder, "Are you on the rag or what?!" Ling stuck her tongue at him as she smiled and hopped to her homeroom. Hwoarang caught up with her when she stopped in front of a door labeled "Class A". She peered through the small window to see if she was late. 

"Did we make on time?" the Korean asked as he glimpsed through the glass with her. Hwoarang glanced around the room from desk to desk, seeing if he knew anybody from his elementary days. The Korean's eyes grew wide when he saw Jin in the right corner of the room, but… it didn't look like the same Jin he knew. Jin sat at his desk, studying calmly with strands of black hair in his eyes. He wore a cyan blue t-shirt with a white collar that seemed to give him a peaceful state of mind. He wasn't the same spoil brat strapped down in that weird ass red-black leather type shit. He didn't have that stuck up snob attitude, but more of a humble, gentle mannerism. Hwoarang didn't know what to think of the situation. He had always hated Jin for many reasons, but now, they seemed to have drift away. What was it about this Jin that made him different from the other one? Was it because he looked innocent? The Korean looked more closely at the Japanese boy, trying to figure out what it was that was confusing him. Hwoarang study more carefully and started to notice how flawless Jin looked… his eyes were perfect and his body was for a lack of a better word, arousing. Hwoarang's eyes grew wide and he darted from the door. Hwoarang began to realize that he was attracted to him and it was then, that he noticed there was warm throb in his pants. Ling stared at him with one eye arched. 

"What's with you?" she asked. Hwoarang cleared his head, trying to think of an excuse. 

"Y-y-you didn't tell me Jin was in your class." He replied quickly. Ling glanced at the ceiling as she made a nervous laugh. 

"Oh, right… I forgot about that." She said trying to laugh it off. Hwoarang had to think of something quick, he was becoming harder with every few seconds that passed. 

"Hey, what class is this?" he asked, walking back up to the door, trying to conceal himself. 

"Advanced Math or something like that." She stated as she placed her hand on the doorknob. Hwoarang pulled her back by the shoulder, trying to buy himself some time. 

"Do you think I can look at your book so I won't be lost?" he asked while he screamed "GIVE ME THE GODDAMN BOOK!" in his head. 

"Yeah, I'll give it to you in the classroom." She smiled as she reached for the doorknob. Hwoarang didn't release her from his grip, which made it hard for her to grasp the knob. 

"NOW." He demanded. Ling sighed, thinking nothing of it and pulled the book out of her bag. She handed it to him and finally opened the door. The Korean quickly held the book to his left side as he walked in with her. Ling's teacher glanced up at her from his chair as she came in and smiled. 

"Oyasumi, Shaoyu-san." _(Morning, Ms. Xiaoyu)_ He greeted her with a smile and noticed the newcomer, "Aaa, anata wa dare desu ka?" _(Ah, who are you?)_ He asked as he stood up, holding out his hand to Hwoarang. 

"Kare wa boku no tomodachi!" _(He's my friend!)_ She replied happily. The Korean shook the teacher's extended hand and bowed his head lightly. 

"Hajimemashite. Watashi no onamae wa Houran desu. Doozo yoroshiku onegai shimasu." _(How do you do? My name's Hwoarang. It's very nice to meet you.)_ Hwoarang said in the most polite form in Japanese. The teacher smiled at the Korean's manners. 

"Douzo yoroshiku. Watashi wa Watanabe-san. Anata (w)o jishoukai sasete ni kurasu kudasai." _(I's nice to meet you. I am Mr. Watanabe. Please… introduce yourself to the class.)_ He politely requested. Hwoarang nodded respectfully while Ling stared strangely at him, she was having a hard time buying this polite Hwoarang. 

"Ohayougozaimasu, minna-san. Jishoukai sasete itadakimasu. Jonan Gakkoo no Houran desu. Douzo yoroshiku onegai shimasu." _(Good morning, everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hwoarang of Jonan High School. It's nice to meet you.)_ He said formally, bowing with the book in front of him and keeping his eyes off Jin. 

"Douzo yoroshiku!" _(Nice to meet you!)_ The class replied in unison. 

"Doumoarigatou, Houran-san." _(Thank you, Mr. Hwoarang)_ The teacher said sitting back in his chair. Ling yawned and skipped over to her chair in the back row while Hwoarang tagged along. Xiaoyu plopped down in her seat and tried to make herself comfortable for an eighty-minute class. Hwoarang slipped in a chair to the right of Ling and slightly slouched in his seat, keeping the book on top of his lap. He didn't know how he was going to get through the class with a hard-on. He just prayed it would go away in a few minutes and kept his vision steered clear of Jin Kazama. He sighed, keeping his left hand on the book and plopped his chin in the other hand, which was supported by his elbow on the desk. 

The teacher opened his book and was ready to talk away, but there was a knock at the door. He went to the door and conversed with the person then turned to his class. 

"Sumimasen, minna-san. Matte kudasai." _(Excuse me, everyone. Please wait.)_ He asked kindly as he exited the room. The classroom started to fill with conversations and gossip as the students began to appreciate their extra free time. Ling looked around her desk, trying to figure out what she did with her math book. She pulled her backpack into her lap and searched through, pulling out some books. She glanced once more at the three books in her bag and flipped through the four that were on her desk. She leaned back confused about the situation. 

"What did I do with my book?" she whispered to herself. She held her head in her left hand and stared at the floor. In the corner of her eye she saw her math book… on the Korean's lap. Hwoarang continued to try to think of something to get his mind off the aching between legs and sighed heavily in frustration. At that moment, he heard several books falling to the floor from Ling's desk and looked over to see Ling Xiaoyu standing over him with a backpack filled with books suspended over her head in her hands. 

"HENTAAAIIIIII!!" _(PERVERT!!!)_She screamed as she slammed the books on his head with all her might. Several more books fell from her bag and dropped to the ground. Hwoarang growled angrily at her and snatched her backpack away from her. 

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" he yelled in English. Ling slammed her fists on his desk and got in his face. 

"Anata wa hentaaaaiiiii!!" _(You are a pervert!)_ She roared in his face. Hwoarang pulled her down, grabbing her neck in his arm and covered her mouth with the other to prevent her from yelling any more obscenities, knowing that everyone was watching them. He turned to face the audience and made an uneasy smile. 

"Gomennesai, minna-san. Konojo (w)o yurusu kudasai. Konojo wa chotto duranku desu." _(I'm sorry, everyone. Please forgive her. She's a little drunk.)_ He said with a small laugh and turned back to her, "What the hell did I do to get called a pervert in front of your entire class?!" He fiercely whispered to her, letting go of her mouth for a reply. 

"Hentai!" she shouted with the opportunity that was given to her. He covered her mouth and tried to prevent himself strangling her. 

"Could you embarrass me anymore, Ling Xiaoyu?! Now give me a good reason or I'm gonna have to throw you in the school swimming pool!" he exclaimed as he pointed out the window, letting his hand off her mouth one more time. 

"Shi` wo`' shu-be`'n!" _(My book!)_ She yelled in Chinese as she whipped her math book away from Hwoarang's violating crotch. Hwoarang's eye twitched at her response. 

"Zhu` Ko`'u!" _(Shut up!)_ The Korean commanded. Ling replied with blowing a raspberry at him and hopped back up to her chair. She held her book in the corner touching as little as possible with her thumb and finger as she inspected it, making sure it was safe. She looked over and took a quick sniff, deeming it secured. Hwoarang watched, holding his head in his hands as he thanked God that no else knew Chinese. 

After the outburst, the teacher came back into the room and resumed to his desk. He continued the lecture and preceded to write a foreign language all over the chalkboard, that was called math. Hwoarang became intrigued with some of the math equations and leaned over to Ling. 

"Hey, Ling, can I borrow a pen and paper?" he asked quietly, making sure the teacher wouldn't hear him. 

"I'll think about it." Ling replied, not even looking up from her book. The Korean groaned as he leaned back into his chair and continued to watch the teacher jot on the board. Before a minute had passed, Ling placed a paper and pen on his desk. Hwoarang smiled and nodded a "thank you" to her then whisked the pen into his hand. However, when he saw the image on the paper, the pen dropped out of his hand. It was a chibi picture of Hwoarang smiling uneasily with a book in front of him. The book had limbs and a mouth that was screaming, trying to pull itself away from Hwoarang's crotch. The Korean growled and tried to ignore it while writing down some of the equations. About half way through the class, Hwoarang ended up getting really into it. He was writing down problems and solving them left and right. When the Korean came across a problem he couldn't figure out, it was driving him insane. What am I doing wrong?, he asked himself. There was only one way he was going to figure it out and that was through Ling's book. He leaned over to her again and took a deep breath. 

"Ling, I really need your book, can I borrow it?" he asked desperately. Ling slowly turned her head, glaring at him. 

"I don't know, let me ask my book to see if it's okay with him!" She hissed back as she faced the book towards her, keeping it slightly closed, "Book, do you want to see Hwoarangy again?" 

"No, Ling, no!" Ling said in a squeaky voice pretending to be the book as she was flapping the book's cover to mouth her words, "He'll molest me again! He's a bad man!" Hwoarang's eye twitched as Ling's performance as he gripped the edge of his seat, digging his fingernails into the plastic. 

"Ling, quit being a brat!" he lightly shouted, not knowing he got the attention of the teacher. The Chinese girl stuck her tongue at him, mouthing her book to the sound of her "Nah". 

"Xiaoyu, you are so dead when we get out of-"Hwoarang started to declare when he was interrupted. 

"HOURAN-SAN!" the teacher hollered at the other end of the classroom. Hwoarang whipped around to face the teacher. 

"YES, SIR! I mean, uh, gomen, dah, uh, Hai, Watanabe-san!" _(Uh, sorry, dah, uh, Yes, Mr. Watanabe!)_ He stammered, cleaning up his posture. The teacher slipped off his glasses calmly and placed them in his breast pocket. 

"Perhaps you would like to lead the class in solving a problem I was sharing with them." He said, gesturing with his hands. Hwoarang's eyes nearly went into shock. 

"I-I really don't know-" Hwoarang said, trying to talk his way out of it. 

"Oh, come now. Surely, if you can interrupt the class, you can at least help with a problem." He said softly, motioning with his hand for Hwoarang to come up. The Korean groaned quietly and pulled himself out of his seat, walking up the isle of desks. The teacher handed Hwoarang a piece of chalk and jotted an equation on the board. The red head looked at the equation… three years of doing shit, came back and bit him in the ass. The teacher watched the Korean's movement as he sat down on the desk. Ling looked at the equation on the board and tried to find one similar to it, but she couldn't. The equation that was written on the board was far more advance than anything in that section they were studying, in the whole chapter actually. 

"You're not going to find it in the first 200 pages." Jin whispered to Ling. A shocked look came across her face as she looked over to Jin. 

"What? Why not?" she cried. 

"We're barely studying cos and sin, it's only the 1st semester. That equation is something you would come across in the 2nd semester. Unless he's taking a trigonometry course, there's no way he can solve it." Jin explained. Ling glanced up at Hwoarang, he hadn't made a single attempt to make the first step. 

"Are we allowed to use calculators?" The Korean asked with nervous laugh. 

"I tend to frown at that, I don't like students depending on a machine." He replied coldly. Hwoarang stared at the board, trying to recall his secondary school days. 

"Take your time, Mr. Hwoarang. We won't leave until you figure it out. Be sure to show your work." Watanabe said discouragingly. Ling jumped up at her teacher's remark. 

"You can't do that! We'll be here forever!" she whined. 

"Then I suggest you get comfortable." The teacher retorted harshly. Ling slammed her hands down on her desk in disagreement. 

"No way! I have other classes! Hwoarang, you dumbass! Apologize to him!" The Chinese girl demanded. Hwoarang turned around, scowling her. 

"Hey, this is your fault! If you had given me the book like I asked, none of this would have happened!" The Korean growled back. 

"Don't yell at me because you dropped out of school! You're just mad at me because you're too stupid to figure it out for yourself!" Ling yelled back, trying to defend herself. The teacher watched them argue with amusement as he pulled out a calculator. 

"STUPID?!" Hwoarang said with his lips curling a roar, "I'll show you fucking stupid!" he screamed facing the board. 

"2 sin^2 + cos x = 1 ; which must be greater than 0, less than 360!" Hwoarang said reading the equation of the board. 

"You can use a calculator, if you absolutely have to." Watanabe commented, holding out the calculator to Hwoarang. 

"I DON'T NEED IT!" The Korean roared with a mad gleam in his eyes and continued to figure out the equation, "The only you can solve it is by having only sin or cos, not both! So, you use the Pythagoras' relation, which is sin raised to the second power times x plus cos raised to the second power times x equals to one. You substitute sin for cos in equation, which is one minus cos raised to the first power x!" he yelled as he madly jotted on the board. 

"You expand the brackets, which equals to 2 minus 2 cos raised to the 2nd power times x plus cos times x equals to 1! Then, you rearrange it into quadratic form which moves the left side to the right and that gives you 2 cos raised to the 2nd power times x minus cos times x minus 1! Once you get that, put it into lower terms, in other words, factorize it and you should get 2 cos times x plus 1 in parenthesis times cos x minus 1 in parenthesis equal to 0!" he continued, driving the chalk into the blackboard. By this time, he had all the students gawking at the scribbles on the board while they tried to comprehend what he saying. 

"This means cos x equals to -1/2 and 1. Since 1 equals to 0 and 360 in cos, you disregard it. 1/2 in cos is 60 degrees. So in this situation, it's -60 degrees, which means there's two answers in the 2nd and 3rd quadrant and that 120 degrees and 240 degrees! So, your answer to the equation 2 sin raised to the 2nd power plus cos x equals to 1 between 0 and 360 degrees is 120 degrees and 240 degrees!" The Korean finished with a roar, slamming the chalk on the metal tray and walking back to his seat. 

The students cheered and clapped as Hwoarang walked down the isle, whistling at his achievement. Words of praise were hollered at him while girls swooned over him as he plopped back in his seat. The teacher gaped at the all the work that was jotted on the board, he was stunned that the Korean didn't use a calculator. Watanabe lied about his students not using calculators, he was just trying to teach the kid a lesson, but what this Korean did was something most of his students couldn't do. The teacher just stood there in amazement, glancing over the shown work. 

Pythagoras' relation sin^2 x + cos^2 x = 1   
2sin^2 x + cos x = 1 ; 0 2(1- cos ^2 x) + cos x = 1   
2 – 2cos^2 x + cos x = 1   
2cos^2 x – cos^2x – 1 = 0   
(2 cos x +1)(cos x - 1) = 0   
cos x = - ½, 1 

degrees must be greater than 1, lesser than 360   
cos 1 = 0 and 360, no good   
cos ½ = 60  cos -½ = -60 

180-60 = 120   
180+60 = 240   
x = 120, 240 

The teacher coughed, trying to regain his breath and placed the calculator back in the drawer. Ling sat there dumbfounded, she didn't know how she was going to apologize to Hwoarang. 

"Well, hontou ni domouarigatougozaimasu, Houran-san." _(Well, thank you very much, Mr. Hwoarang)_ Watanabe said with a light bow, still trying recovering from the Koran's excellent performance. The teacher resumed teaching the class once more, explaining that the equation Hwoarang had completely was something they would be able to do at the beginning of the 3rd semester and that they didn't have to worry about for the mean time. Hwoarang remained silent at his desk, creating equations and solving them much like the way he did before while Ling was trying to find the right words to say to Hwoarang. Eventually, class ended and the students gathered their stuff to leave. After a minute had passed, the only ones left in the room was the teacher, Hwoarang, Ling, and Jin. The Chinese girl finally summoned enough courage and walked over to Hworang, holding her backpack to her chest. 

"I'm sorry!" She forced herself to say, closing her eyes shut. 

"I'm sorry, what was that you said? I didn't quite get that." Hwoarang teased , holding his hand to his ear. 

"I said I'm sorry! You not stupid," she admitted, "but you're still dumbass!" she added. Hwoarang laughed and stood up from his seat. 

"Well, I should be thanking you, so thank you. If you haven't called me stupid, I wouldn't have gotten the motivation I needed." He confessed with a chuckle, pulling her into his arms for a hug. 

"Awww, Hwoarangy!" She said smiling as she melted away in his arms, before she leaped out of them. 

"What?" Hwoarang asked confused. She looked at him suspiciously and stared at his crotch with one eye arched, tilting her head. 

"You just couldn't pass up the opportunity, could you?" Hwoarang said as he lightly punched her shoulder. At that moment, the Korean saw Jin step out of his seat and pass by the lined seats. 

"Oh, Hwoarang,?" Jin asked, turning around as he reached the front of the room. Hwoarang glanced up at him, waiting for him to continue, "I was impressed by what you did in class today. You did good." Jin finished. Hwoarang made a slight nod in response and quickly looked away before he could see Jin walk out the door, "I'll see you Physics, Ling!" The Japanese added. 

"Okay, bai-bai, Jin!" _(Bye-bye!)_ Ling replied, hunched over as she waved her hand. 

"Bai-bai, Jin!" The Korean said in a high, squeaky voice, mocking Ling as he copied her wave. The Chinese girl growled at his mimicing and smacked her bag in his stomach. While Hwoarang grabbed his stomach, Ling ran off to the hallway before he could do any harm to her and darted behind the door. Hwoarang groaned as he made an attempt to run after her, but gave up after a few steps. 

"Fuck it." He uttered under his breath. The teacher chuckled as he gathered his papers in his bag. 

"Oh, Houran-san, I've been meaning to ask to you something." Watanabe stated as he placed his remaining files into his case. 

"By all means, go ahead." Hwoarang gestured as he wandered to the front of the room. 

"Did you really dropped of secondary school?" He asked. 

"No, I just told her it had been while since I was at school. She assumed I quit." Hwoarang explained as he peeked between the door hinges from a distance. 

"What is your math level? If you don't mind my asking." The teacher said, closing his case shut. 

"Calculus III. I've always consider math a fun subject." He replied. 

"Well, that's very impressive. Its good to know there's someone who loves math besides myself." Watanabe said with a slight smile as he pulled the bag into his hand and walked out the door. Hwoarang bowed his head as the teacher walked by and turned his back to his prey who was cowering behind the door. He strolled up to the door, whistling and pushed it all the way to the wall, imprisoning the Chinese girl. He used his foot as a stopper and leaned against the door, taking his time to stretch his arms. Ling was slamming and kicking the door with all the limbs on her body, but the door didn't budge. 

"Hwoarang, you meanie! Let me out of here!" she yelled as she tried to push it open. 

"I'll think about it." He covered his mouth as he yawned while an angry Chinese girl fought unrelentlessly towards the door. 

"If you don't let me out of here, I'm gonna tell Jin you had an hard-on in class!" Damn that right twitch in his eye, he was going to have to get that looked at if it keeps happening at this rate. He growled as he stepped away from the door, knowing very well that Ling still had her full weight against the door. The weight of Chinese girl swung the door out of the way and scheduled a diving course into the concrete floor for her. A rather loud thud slammed into the ground while Hwoarang enjoyed the amusement. He leaned over the stiffed body of the school girl as he crossed his arms. 

"Happy now?" Ling whipped her body around like a cat thrown into the air and hissed at the Korean. 

"You're paying for that!" Hwoarang shrugged a laugh as he stood looming over her. 

"Oh, really?" he asked as he rang his fingers through his hair. The little tiger of a girl grew a smirking grin as she leaned back on her elbows. 

"You know, Jin and I both have a computer class this period and we love to send each emails during class." She said as laid there, smiling evilly at a defenseless Hwoarang. The Korean clenched his teeth together and grabbed her arm, yanking her off the floor. 

"This is the last time you use that against me, you hear?" he said, clasping her shoulders in his hands. She nodded in response as he sighed wearily, "All right, what do I have to do?" 

The Korean tudged through the hallways of the crowded school with a hyper Chinese girl riding on his back, guiding him the way. While Ling purred contently against his soft back, the Korean was remembering ten different ways he could break a person's leg, compliments to the army. The rest of the morning classes went smoothly. Ling didn't mention another word of his embarassment, but who would if they had Hwoarang as their slave for the day? While Ling doodled away in class, the Korean took all the class notes and solved each and every problem no matter what class it was. To Hwoarang, it felt like Lunch would never come, but his patience paid off when the bell tolled freedom. He couldn't stand to be in one more class with Jin. The thought of Ling being three feet away from the Mishima boy, made him nervous as hell. Besides, he didn't need a recap of the previous episode this morning. Before he could figure out anything, Ling interrupted him. 

"Hey, Hwoarangy, guess what we're doing for lunch?" she said being her cute, conniving little self. Hwoarang dreaded to answer, thinking of the possibilities that twisted little girl could come up with. She stood hovering behind him, waiting for an answer. 

"What?" Ling pounced on him, wrapping her arms around his neck as she giggled. 

"We're going to eat at McDonald's!" she exclaiming, snuggling into his neck. 

"Oh, God, that's a heart attack waiting to happening." He said, thinking of all that food that was grease in a solid form. Yes, Hwoarang was a health freak when it came to food. Even though he smoked cigarettes like a chimney and drank liquor as if it was water, he had a huge pet peeve when it came to eating food that tasted like cardboard. 

"Can't we just eat normal food like rice? Sushi? Vegetables? Something else that isn't pure fat on a stick?" He was at the point of begging on his knees and that wasn't something that didn't happened everyday, but the situation was starting to call for it. 

"Well, we could eat at the cafeteria with Jin. We always sit together and talk about girl stuff," she replied with a grin, nuzzling into his neck, "Stuff like people getting-" 

"All right! I get the point! We'll eat at Mc-dogs-hell!" He successfully interrupted before she could whisper another word. Ling jumped with rejoice as she gathered her belongings in her bag. Hwoarang groaned as his mind was occupied by the thought of food loaded with enough salt that it could kill an ocean-based creature. He hunched over, bracing himself for Ling's grasshopper spring as she tossed her bag over her back. Once she was finished with that, she leaped onto the Korean's back and surrounded his neck with her arms. He took her thighs into his arms and carried her into the hallways. He was getting a little exercise, so he couldn't really complain. The real bitching wouldn't start until later, but he didn't want to think about it. He trotted through the school, keeping his comments on Ling's weight to himself. He didn't need to get into more trouble than he already was in. As Hwoarang carried her highness outside of the school building, Ling waved to people with a cheery smile from Hwoarang's back. 

Just a few more feet and this riding pony shit is over, he told himself as his walking pace increased. 

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she said with sudden realization as she leaned over the Korean's shoulder, 

"Hwoarangy, are you free tomorrow?" Hwoarang finally made it to his motorcycle and turned around so that the seat was directly underneath Ling. The red head held her as he waited for her to jump off. 

"Well, yeah, but I was planning to have a huge party at my place. You know, have a few kegs, play quarters with shots, and end up in a orgy of girls." He replied jokingly, he knew she didn't like him drinking or talking about other girls besides herself. He was still waiting for her hop down. 

"Yeah, I bet you would enjoy that orgy only to realize when you sober up it was only guys!" she retorted with a big cheesy grin. 

"Oh, God, that's sick, Ling!" He said in disgust as he dropped her onto the motorcycle with a plop. She twittered her life away as she crossed her legs, still wanting a positive answer for her question. 

"So, do you want to hang out? We're going to play Dance Dance Revolution at the arcade." Her voice had a bit of teasing at the mention of DDR, she knew he couldn't resist showing off the dancing machine. Hwoarang raised an eyebrow as he turned around to face her slowly. 

"DDR, you say?" She nodded her head in response as he continued, "Who's we?" he asked. 

"One of my friends from school, but I don't know if he can come just yet. So it might be just you and me." The Korean tapped on his chin with his finger, he already knew he was going to humiliate Ling on the machine. 

"Sounds cool, the more the merry though. I'll do it on one condition." Hwoarang leaned over Ling with his hands on the opposite sides of her. 

"Name it!" she said, pulling her knee to her chest. 

"We ditch school and head back to my place for the rest of the day." The offer intrigued Ling. She's never seen his home before, but if she missed a day of school, she would be at a lost. 

"Come on, I'll make sure you won't fall behind in class," he said encouragingly. 

"Deal!" That was all the insurance that she needed and with that, Hwoarang plopped on his ride and started the engine. 

"We're still going to grab something at McDonald's though!" she hollered over his shoulder. The Korean hung his head at those words and groaned, he had hoped she would have forgotten about it. After he recovered, he zoomed off into the city. It didn't take long to pick up some grub, but when one drives on the middle lane and on the sidewalk, it doesn't take long to go anywhere. The pedestrians started to take a hint and stayed clear of the curb. Its amazing that Hwoarang could create a 60mph lane in a jam pack Tokyo. 

Once the odd couple got into the dead part of city, the crowds disappeared and the only people in sight were gangs. This was definitely not the place for women to be alone and tourists were the perfect targets for muggers. It couldn't be explained why this place changed so drastically from being 5 miles from the heart of the Tokyo or why the cops didn't even make any attempts to patrol the area. The one thing everyone knew was no one, nothing was going to help them in this district of Tokyo. Only the strongest survive. 

The Korean had finally reached the factory and flew passed the narrow opening of the fence, screeching to a halt right in front of the huge loading door of the building. The motorcycle kicked up a few pieces of gravel at the metal door and hummed as it rested on the small rocks. Hwoarang switched off the engine and rested his bike on the kickstand as he glanced over at the Chinese girl who clenched a McDonald's bag in her mouth. She grinned like the Cheshire Cat and swung her leg to the other side, hopping off the ride. 

"Hold out your hands." She demanded, taking the bag out of her mouth. The Korean stood there bewildered for a while and eventually held out his hands, palm up. Ling jumped into his arms, knowing he would catch her. It took the red head by surprise, but thank God for his fast reflexes or else she would have landed on the gravel. He should have figured that Ling would have wanted to be carried like a bride and kicked the door open. Hwoarang stepped into his humble abode and looked around for his fellow roommates. They were all present and accounted for, hanging out in their domains. 

"Wow, for a run down place, you turned this into a real bachelor pad!" she said staring in amazement. At the sound of a female's voice, a figure rolled around in bed on a metal walkway near Hwoarang's bedroom wall to see the girl. 

"WHOA. Is that a woman in your arms, Rang?" Neko asked, peeking from underneath his covers. 

"GIRL." Hwoarang explicitly clarified. At the mention of the word "girl", Tomo hopped up to his knees on his bed, tossing the magazine aside. 

"She looks old enough to me!" Tomo yelled at the red head, which was followed by a wolf whistle. Another figure appeared from behind the huge tapestry of a classic rock star. 

"Well, Rang! I haven't see a girl in your arms since-" 

"SHUT UP!" The Korean roared with his voice lightly vibrating the sheets of metal walls. Ling giggled at the slanders that were attacking Hwoarang as she quietly munched on her chicken nugget. Hwoarang rushed into the 1st floor of the office complex and ran up the stairs like it was nothing. Once he reached the holy land (AKA his room), he kicked the door shut and gently held Ling out to hop out of his arms. Ling stepped onto the floor and squealed at the sight of his room as she pulled the bag off her back. She spazzed a little, not knowing what to fawn over first and finally made the decision. Hwoarang watched the confused little puppy gallop over to his bed and collapsed with her back on the bed. He heard the creak in the floor from its gained weight and wondered if he should tell her about the weakened floor. Ling pulled out a video camera from her schoolbag and turned it on, gazing at the ceiling. 

"This is Hwoarang's room and I'm on his bed!" While the Chinese girl documented her experience, Hwoarang strolled over to his dresser and leaned against it. Ling swung her feet back and forth off the bed and zoomed in on Hwoarang. 

"And, here's another interview with Hwoarangy!" She pulled herself up and got a better shot of the Korean, "So, how are you going to help me with my homework?" Hwoarang shook his head as he slightly rolled his eyes, this camera thing with Ling was starting to happen on a daily basis. 

"I think if I can solve trigonometry problems, everything else should be a piece of cake." He kept his head low, hiding his eyes behind the strands of ruby hair. 

"Yeah, about that, how the hell did you figure out the problem on the board if you flunked Secondary School?!" Hwoarang stiffed a laugh and faced the camera. 

"I never said I flunked school, I just said its been three years since I was in school." He explained with a sly smile. Ling peered from behind the video camera with a confused look on her face. 

"That doesn't make any sense! If you did graduated Secondary School, that's means you finished when you were sixteen!" Wow, the bright girl had figured it out for herself, Hwoarang thought. 

"That's about right, I turned seventeen shortly after school was finished." The video camera fell out of Ling's hands. 

"NO WAY! There's no way you could have graduated at sixteen!" She said in denial, "Even if you did, there's no way you could help me with Physics and-and-and Biology II!" Hwoarang bite his lip and looked away. 

"Ling, if I told you something, would you promise not to tell anyone?" Ling nodded her head wildly, dying to what it was. 

"That means everyone, Ling." He restated firmly 

"Yes, I know! I promise I won't tell!" She replied quickly, she loved secrets. And not to mention… telling others about them. 

"All right…" The Korean sighed and took a breath before he continued, "I graduated as salutatorian out of a class of two thousand." Ling sat there with her mouth wide open. 

"NO WAY." There was no way this bad boy Ling knew was the top of his class. 

"Yes, way. I wasn't valedictorian because I made one fucking error on the essay Why I Should Be Valedictorian. It didn't matter that I had enough college credits to be a sophomore and got nothing, but perfect grades." Hwoarang was still a little bitter about that. 

"What mistake was that?" She asked, crawling on all fours towards the end of the bed. 

"I didn't write my surname." He growled through his teeth as his fingers dug into the edges of the dresser. 

"You don't have a surname." Ling said, stating the obvious. 

"My point." The Korean let out a sigh, trying to calm his aggressions. Ling grew puppy dog eyes and pouted her lips. 

"Poor Hwoarangy." She said, trying to comfort him. All of sudden, a light bulb went off in the kid's head and she stood up on her legs, "I know what can cheer you up!" Hwoarang looked at the sexy grin on her face and his eyes grew wide. Oh, God, Hwoarang hoped she wasn't implying what he think she was. 

"Take me Hwoarangy!" She said giggling with welcome arms as she fell back onto the bed. The floor made another disturbing sound that Hwoarang an idea. 

"All right." He walked casually towards her, adding a sway in his hips that made him more seductive as he crossed his arms. Ling shook her head and did a double take of Hwoarang. Yep, he was definitely walking closer to her. She whimpered a little and started to tense up. She didn't think he would have a show down with her, but she wasn't going to cave in first. The Korean slid his hands up beside her as he climbed onto the bed until he was right on top of her. 

"You ready?" He whispered into her ear. She swallowed a huge gulp in her throat and griped the sheets, preventing her from leaping off the bed. 

"Bring it on!" Ling replied as she clenched her eyes, thinking that maybe she would last longer this way. The Korean climbed to his feet and gripped the metal beams into the palms of his hands. He looked down at the cowering Chinese girl and grinned evilly. 

"Here I come!" He declared as he jumped off the bed and slammed all of his weight with his feet onto bed. In an instant, the floor snapped and ripped through the level, taking the bed with it. Hwoarang braced himself between the beams and lifted himself up before the bed fell through the floor, leaving a surprised and pissed off Ling stranded on the mattress. He watched as the Chinese girl disappeared amidst his blankets and heard the bed crash against the 2nd level, which broke through that floor as well. Oh, shit. Hwoarang didn't think it would go through both floors. He shrugged it off and told himself, Ah, she'll live. Once the bed had fallen to the ground, a very anger girl struggled out of the blankets. She pulled herself free of the blankets and glared through the dust with a rage in her eyes. 

"HWOARANG, YOU ARE SO FUCKING DEAD!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. The Korean laughed as he peered down at her. 

"Consider that payback for all the threats and humiliation you made me go through today!" He yelled with a chuckle. Ling threw the covers away from and crawled to her feet with the video camera in her hand. 

"And think of this as revenge for that free ride you gave me! You forgot to tell me turn off the camera when we were talking about you, MS. SALUTATORIAN!!" Hwoarang's smile dropped at that new nickname. 

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE!" He attempted to threaten her, which was kind of pointless in the situation he was in. Ling cackled and darted off to find his friends. Hwoarang fled down the stairs like a tornado, knowing that every second gave him more time to protect his reputation. Ling and Hwoarang played cat and mouse throughout the house, she was always faster than he was. In the end, the Korean knew he would have to strike another deal with her. When the two finally came to a negotiation, Hwoarang was severely punished. Not only did he add time to his servitude, but he had to eat lunch everyday with Ling _and_ Jin. The Korean didn't know what was in store for in and had no idea that a new relation would begin to grow. 


	6. First Kiss

Author: Jiji Kero   
Warnings: Language   
Couples: Ling x Hwoarang/Jin (friendship wise), Jin x Hwoarang (light shounen-ai... well, not after I finished this chapter :P)   
Author's Notes: Yo, what's up people, I'm sorry I was sitting on my arse so long. For a while there I had a writer's block, but I finally kicked it's @$$. For all those who waited patiently, especially Angel_Dragon and Shinrai, thanks so much for your support. However, I'm sad to say though that Chapter 7 is the last chapter of the Innocence saga, but the installation of the next series of Obsession, Death will be starting hopefully right away. Unfortunately, I can't sit down and just tap away at the keyboard for this one. The most difficulting part will be organizing the flashbacks of Ling, Jin, and Hwoarang in concordance to the present day. But as long as I've you guys supporting me it'll make it that much easier and more fun. Thank you once again and I hope you enjoy the next chapter, "The And." 

PS: I'd like to thank ddrfreak.com for keeping track of all the DDr songs combo scores.   
**_Obsession Chapter 6_** (Finally Frickin' F%#$ing Finished!!) 

"First Kiss" 

Hwoarang lied on his bed, gazing at the hole in his room as he thought of the carefree days. He pondered on how much things have changed since then. Jin, Ling, himself… weren't children anymore. Hwoarang tried to hold on to his view of life, but it proved to be difficult when he was world was falling apart and being drafted into the army. The Korean had to learn once again that life wasn't just fun and games. It seemed more similar to a dramatic play, one Greek tragedy after another. He hadn't completely given up his belief though, it just seems that now isn't the time. Not yet anyway. Maybe when Ling comes back, she'll be able to help him to remember how to be himself again. 

He sighed as he pulled himself off the bed and began to rummage around in his army duffel bag for Ling's letter. Once he had found the pieces of paper, he whipped out Steve's cellular phone and dialed away. As the phone ringed, waiting for an answer on the other line, Hwoarang realized it was passed midnight. He knew Ling wasn't much a night owl, but more of a frickin' morning bird. She always was bugging and pouncing on him at 6am. Not even the sun is completely up, how could anyone be awake at that time in the morning? He exhaled in frustration, reminiscing all the times she came hopping on his bed and dragging him to her school. 

"Moshi-moshi!!" _(Hello?)_ a perky girl cried happily at the other end of the phone. Hwoarang blinked for a moment, did he have the right number? 

"Ling?" the Korean asked in a strange tone, he didn't quite know what to make of it. 

"Hwoarangy?! Is that you?!" Hwoarang sensed the girl's excitement and could just picture her hopping like a grasshopper all over the room. 

"Yeeessss," Hwoarang said with a hint of hesitation, "but what the hell are you doing up at this time of night?" The Chinese girl giggled at his comment and hummed joyfully over the phone. 

"I'm planning our trip to Japan, of course!" Hwoarang laughed a little, he had a feeling she was still in China. 

"Well, it kinda helps if you're actually here, Ling." The Korean got a long pause. 

"You're… in… Japan… already….?" She said in a cold, restraining tone. Uh-oh, I'm in a deep shit, Hwoarang thought to himself. 

**"HWOARANG, YOU JERK HEAD!! WE WERE SUPPOSE TO BE GOING TOGETHER!!"** The mad fury of a Chinese girl screamed over the phone. Hwoarang pulled the cell phone away and stared at it as she continued to send angry vibes. Once she had finished, he brought the cell phone back to his ear and listened to Ling's pants, fuming over the phone. 

"Done yet?" the Korean asked once the girl regained her breath. 

"Grrrrrr." Hwoarang sighed with a laugh, he knew he wasn't going to get much of a reply. 

"Well, Ling, you can punish me as usual once you get back. But I really don't think the army would have allowed you onto the base and walk off with me." Ling grunted slightly at that remark. 

"I guess so… but that means it's gonna be a week before I see you again. I was going to go to Korea and pick you up in 2 days." The Chinese girl said with a pout. 

"Don't worry, its not like I'm going to walk off the face of the planet again. I'll be waiting at the warehouse where I'm always am and if anything goes wrong I'll call you before you leave China, okay?" 

"All right, I'm trusting you!" Hwoarang chucked a little, but stopped shortly. He could sense that Ling was smirking about something. 

"Oh, by the Hwoarangy, the number you called is a cell phone number, which means that you have no excuse to not call me!" The Korean blinked at that comment and tried to say something in his defense, but was cut off, "I'll be expecting you to call me 2 days from that, considered that your punishment!" Hwoarang's head dropped as he let out a groan. 

"Awww, man! Ling, it isn't cheap to call by cell phones, you know." The Korean said trying to pry himself out of Ling's sentence. 

"No excuse!" The girl started laughing as she thought to herself, "Like you would ever buy a cell phone! You'd yank it before ever buying one!" A boyish grin came across the Korean face, he knew that she had him down from head to toe. 

"Why, Ling, I'm shocked and ashamed that you would ever think I would stoop to such tactics!" He said in a soft, coining voice. He could hear the Chinese girl rolled around with laughter. 

"Of course not! Miss Salutatorian stealing? Who'd thought? It only says "Steve Fox" on my caller ID!" Hwoarang frowned at that nickname as Ling continued, "Oh, by the way, I've got a present for you. Well, actually I had this present for a long time. It was _suppose_ to be giving to you two years ago before you went MIA. Anyway, when you get back to your pimp pad its in your top dresser drawer." Hwoarang grew a big smile and hopped off his bed, walking over to his dresser. Ling twittered at the other end and said in a singing tone, "Hwoarangy likes presents!" 

"Of course I do and especially from you!" The Korean said as he tried to pull open the drawer. 

"Hey, that rhymes!" Ling said as she interrupted him. Hwoarang rolled his eyes and gave the drawer a good yank that let off a high pitch screech as it slid open. Ling yelp at the noise and it even made the Korean wince. After he shrugged it off, he peered inside and looked around for his. Hwoarang's eyes grew wide at what he saw and nearly dropped the phone. He stammered, trying to find words that explain how he was feeling. 

"Wha-wha-wha-how? When? Wha-?" He said, fumbling for words. 

"I take it you found them." Ling sighed with content, it had been a long time since she's shocked the red head. Hwoarang reached for the photographs and pulled them into his hand as he continued to stare at them. A smile grew across his face and he started to laugh. He didn't know if he wanted hug Ling or strangle her. ------ 

  
A Japanese boy rested comfortably in his school uniform, sinking into the leather chair of his limousine. He peered through the black strands of his hair that dangled in front of him, watching the people on the sidewalks. He was late and he knew Ling was going to scream at him for that, which really wasn't pleasant. Ling was always harsh on him, she was like the driving mother who was never satisfied. Jin knew that she meant well though, she just had an odd way of showing it. He felt the limousine turning to the right and saw the school grounds. The limousine came to a sudden halt, which put the door right in front of Ling. The Japanese slowly turned his head right to see a very upset Chinese girl, tapping her foot on the sidewalk. Actually, it didn't even look liked Ling, but a rather a demon who possessed a girl that sent raging aura throughout the air. Jin gulped and braced himself, he was started to think it would have been better not to come at all. The driver rushed over to the passenger side and bowed as he opened to the door for Xiaoyu. The girl stepped into the vehicle and sat next to Jin with her eyes closed and head high in the air. 

"You're late." She stated firmly as the driver closed the door. Kazama let out an uneasy laugh and smiled a little. 

"I know, I didn't think my grandfather and I would have been taking so long." He looked at Ling for some sort of sign of forgiveness, but got no response. The driver returned to his seat and began to head towards their destination. 

"Excuses," she retorted angrily. The Japanese lost his smiles and drooped his head in shame. 

"Well, it's a good thing we're not going to meet Hwoarangy for another hour!" She said in her most cheerful tone. Ling grinned and wrapped her arm around Jin's neck, pulling him down to her side. The Japanese struggled in her grip and laughed softly. 

"I'm glad that you planned ahead." He gave his warmest smile and lay in her lap. 

"Of course! You and Hwoarangy will be together in no time thanks to me!" She cried joyfully while holding her fist in the air as if she was already triumphant. 

"That reminds me, Ling, did you tell Hwoarang that was I coming with you to the arcade?" He looked up to her and watched her blink her eyes in thought. A few seconds later she put on her cheesiest smile with a nervous laugh. Jin gaped at her as an exasperated look came across his face. 

"You didn't tell him, did you?!" The Japanese exclaimed in horror. 

"I did too! Well... Sort of. I told him I was bringing a friend," she tried to say in her defense. Jin exhaled a groan as he plopped into her lap, before she could get another word in, "Oh, come on! Hwoarang knows I only have two friends and that's you and him! If he can't figure that out then how the hell was he Salutatorian?!" She said, attempting to explain to a hopeless Jin. 

"I guess its better than nothing." The Japanese let out a sigh as he allowed his arms to dangle over the edge of his seat. 

"Of course it is!" She nodded eagerly with her pigtails bobbing up and down. The Chinese grinned down at the tall, dark, handsome Japanese in her lap and pulled on his shirt in joy. Her smile dropped like an anvil though when she held his shirt in her hands. She looked down to see the emblem of their school gripped in her palm, he hadn't even changed his clothes and school had been out for 2 hours. 

"Why are you still wearing your school uniform!?!?!" She screamed in ear that sent him cowering against the side of the limousine. A panicked look came across his face, he had totally forgotten that Ling was very serious about one's appearance. 

"I didn't have time, I was talking to my grandfather and-" Jin cut himself short as Ling towered over him with eyes that looked like they glowed red, "-and I were-and-and- I'm feeling really scared now." 

"How do you expect to play Dance Dance Revolution in those?!? And how are you going to get Hwoarang to notice you if you keep wearing the same clothes he sees every day?!" Ling roared at him. 

"I was going- I was- I thought, well-" The poor Japanese stammered, trying to finish his sentence. Ling glanced up from Jin, she saw something that her eye. 

"Stop the car." She demanded. Jin looked up at her, not knowing what to say to this ticking time bomb. 

"But… doesn't it take-" Kazama was interrupted by Ling being pressed against his face. 

**"STOP THE CAR NOW!!"** She said with her screams vibrating the windows. 

"Its stopping, its stopping now!!" The boy cried, yelling desperately into the intercom and fiddling for the door handle at the same time. The vehicle came to a screeching halt just as the door flung open with a terrified Japanese scrambling for safety. The belligerent Chinese girl stepped out after him and watched him cringed beneath her presence. 

"Well? What are you waiting for? Come on!" She said with a degrading tone in her voice as she grabbed him by the wrist and began to drag him along the sidewalk. Kazama struggled to get to his feet as Ling continued to hold him hostage by his wrist. She came to an abrupt stop that almost made the tall, dark Japanese stumble over her and released from her command. Jin glanced over at Ling who stood smiling before a building, he could sense the wheels turning in that head of hers. He glanced towards the store to see that he was right in front of a Gucci brand name store. The confused Japanese looked at the woman who stood at the entrance, she was the attendant for the store. The lady greeted the strange couple with a bow and opened the door for them. Ling hopped happily into the store as the attendant held the door for her, leaving Jin to tag along after her. Jin followed after the skipping girl, skimming his eyes across the vase variety of clothes. 

"Ling, what exactly are we doing?" 

"What do you think, silly?" She said, turning around and jumping on him with a hug, "We're gonna get you clothes!" She exclaimed as she snuggled into his school sweater. "And preferably the ones that will drive Hwoarangy crazy!" Jin laughed a little and looked down at Ling who was grinning mischievously at him. 

"Well, where do we start?" Jin asked. Ling dripped away from the Japanese boy while she begun to bury herself in deep thought. This was something that wasn't to be taken lightly for her and required her best concentration. 

"Hmmm… let's see. That shade of blue looks really suits you and if Hwoarang was having a hard time control himself with you wearing that yucky school uniform…." She folded her arms in determination, trying to figure this out like it was some sort of math problem, and in her case, there really is only one answer. Jin watched her eagerly, awaiting whatever future she would create for him. That and… well, it was the first time he had every seen her look so serious. In all of a moment, the very fabric of time was disturbed as Ling cried out, "That's it!" 

"That's what?" Jin said obliviously as he followed the Chinese girl trotting over to one the tables. She had them to a long table covered with a variety of blue sweaters in different shapes and sizes. Jin held back a groan from the sight of sweaters, he knew firsthand that DDR and sweaters do not go together. Ling ignored Jin's sight of agony and wasted no time to rummage through the pile of clothes. Jin watched in shock as Ling began tossing the sweaters off the table one by one. 

"Ling! What are you doing?!" Jin said in a panic as he glanced around the store for cameras. Ling disregarded the flustered Jin and continued to name the rejected sweaters as she threw them away. 

"Baby blue, turquoise, blue jay, cyan-blue, navy, indigo, cobalt, sapphire, no, no, no, no, no, no!!" she cried in frustration. She had started to lose hope until she came to the bottom of the collection and spotted the perfect sweater. It was silky blue with a dark shade of gray mix in with it. Ling clung to it for a moment and held it up with pride for Jin to see. 

"Ta-da! Mysterious Butterfly Blue!" The look of horror did not fade from Jin's face. 

"A sweater?! It's going to be hot in that if I play DDR!" Ling frowned at his comment. 

"It's not a sweater! It's a loose-fit, lightweight, long sleeve polyester shirt!" She said, strongly defending her grounds. Jin just looked at her with a slight growl on his face. Whatever she spouted out did not change his situation. 

"… It's still going to be hot." Ling let loose a snarl and put her hands to her hips, which left the MBB sweater dangling at her side. 

"Okay, if you're going to be whiny, rich boy about this then I'll just ask the manager to jack up the air conditioning, okay? Now, put it on!" she demanded, holding the sweater in front of him. Jin stared at the hot-consuming sweater in discouragement. 

"But Ling! I'm going sweat like a waterfall after one song!" Sadness swept across the Chinese girl's face as her eyes shifted to the floor. She held in it her hands, fiddling with softly. Jin sighed at the look of her, this girl's emotions constantly changed more than the history of the world. He often thought there was an angel and a devil inside of the Chinese girl that were always pulling each other's hair out. 

"Well, yeah… but… you know, it's awfully cold outside and you want to keep warm, but you sort of forget that we're going to the arcade…" Her hands slowly dropped to her side as she hide her face from the world to emphasize a hint of grief. 

"Sooooo… _you'll have no choice, but to take it off!"_ she said laughing up a storm. Jin's eyes gaped at that comment and a slight blush came across his face. 

**"LING!"** But that didn't stop the giggling girl. 

"Take it off, take it off!" she crackled as she swung the sweater around a la stripper style. Jin turned to a bright red and held his face in his hands at the sight of the disturbed girl. Ling grinned evilly, she loved to embarrass Jin in public. 

"Oh, don't worry about it! Here, try it on. You'll see it's not as bad as you think." Ling tossed the sweater on Jin's head and he finally decided to show himself to the world again. Jin sighed as he pulled the MBB sweater off his head and glanced over it one last time. Ling grunted at Jin who was taking his time. The impatient girl walked over to him and pulled his head down as if he was bowing in a right angle position. Jin let a surprised cry as she then precede to yank off his school uniform in one swift movement, leaving Kazama topless in everyone's eyeshot. 

"We don't got all day! We still have to find you pants!" She explained to a horrified, naked Jin. Ling blinked for a moment, realizing that a bare-chested handsome Japanese was before her eyes. 

_"BIDANSHI DESU!" (It's a beautiful man!)_ She cried before she pounced on the helpless boy, sending them both onto the store floor. Jin sighed with a laugh as he plopped his head against the carpet floor while the Chinese girl cooed like pigeon against his chest. Ling continued to purr until she saw something from the corner of her eye. She sat up on top of Jin and looked to see a row of evergreen cargo pants hanging behind her. She squealed for joy as she yanked one of the pants off the hanger and looked inside for the size. 

"34W x 38L" She murmured to herself as she looked at Jin, who had an eyebrow raised at her. She tapped her fingers against her chin, trying to remember Jin's size. Ling growled after a few seconds passed, she couldn't remember his size and she knew Jin would know his own size. That's what happens when you don't even buy your own clothes. She sighed as she tossed the cargo pants onto her shoulder and stuck her hand into Jin's pants. 

**_"LING!!!!"_** Jin screamed as Ling's hand rummaged around his pants. Once again, Jin's cries went unheard as Ling tried to find his pant's tag. She let a victory gasp and pulled the tag up enough for her to see. 

"34W x 38L, perfect! I knew it!" She said as she pushed the tag back into Jin's pants. She pulled the cargo pants off her shoulder and held it in front of her with a smile. She had successful found the perfect outfit for him. Jin, however, was not impressed. 

"LING, DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!!!" The violated Japanese boy cried. Ling sighed tiredly and rolled her eyes. 

"Oh, come on! You know that I would never feel you up!" Jin exhaled with exhaustion, she did have a point, but he had more surprises and exhilaration than he could handle in one day. 

"Well, at least give me some sort of warning next time." He asked as he sat up, holding the troublemaker of a girl in his lap. 

"Why?" Ling said with a blink, before she answered the question for herself in her head, "Ohhhhhh, I see! Were you thinking of Hwoarang?" She said with a wide grin. The Japanese's face turned instant red at the question. 

"LING!!" Ling let out a slight laugh and smiled with her eyes closed. 

"Well, you're avoiding the question, so it must be true." She stated as she placed her hands on her hips. 

"No, its not! I wouldn't never think like that in public!" Jin said, trying to defend himself against this perverted girl. 

"Well, of course, we all wouldn't, but that doesn't mean our bodies will." Jin hung his head in shame, hoping that a black hole would suck him away from yet another embarrassing moment. Ling patted him on the head and hopped to her feet. 

"Come on! You know I was just kidding. Besides there's nothing to be sad about, we've got you an outfit!" Jin looked up at the happy girl. _Where the does she get all that energy,_ he wondered to himself. He thoughts were interrupted by a sudden scream. 

"Ack!! We've only got 40 minutes to get to the arcade!!" She shrieked as she scrambled to collect his outfit. 

"Well, we can go as soon as I try on this clothes." He replied as he stood up, holding his school uniform in one hand. 

"No time! Give me your credit card and I'll buy these while you get your clothes back on then head for the limo!" She demanded as she held the clothes in a bundle in hand while holding out her other hand to him. 

"But don't I have show my ID and sign the credit card slip?" He said confused, pulling out the plastic card and placing it in her palm. 

"Let me handle it! Get a move on!" She shouted as she darted like a bat out of hell towards a register. Jin let out a soft laugh and pulled his uniform back over his head as he lightly trotted back to the limousine. Meanwhile, Ling ran up to the cash register and tossed the clothes over the tabletop. 

"Wo`' xiang`' mai`' zhei` ge!" _(I want to buy this!)_ she declared. The salesperson looked at the clothes then at the impatient girl. The gentleman slowly separated the clothes and took his time unfolding the clothes then at more to his leisure, he delicately wrapped them back into their proper shape. 

"Hey, Vogue Reject! Could you hurry that up?!!" Ling said as she tapped her foot violently on the floor. The young man cleared his throat and sighed as he delicately placed the clothes in a plastic bag. He lightly tapped on the register, ringing up a total. 

"That'll be $1672.37." The salesman said in a monotone. Ling eyes blinked several times. 

"Duo- shao`' qian`?" _(How much?)_ She asked, thinking that he had somehow added an extra digit. 

"$1672.37," he retorted in an upstart voice. Ling's jaw dropped at the price. 

**_"HOW DO YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT?!!?"_** she said horrified, "That's more than what my parents pay for rent!!" The proper gentleman covered his mouth as he yawned. 

"Ma'am, the Aft Balenciaga Cargo Pants alone could pay your parent's rent. It is fortunate for you that they were on sale." The Chinese girl felt her eye twitch at the bastard's comment. 

"Sale?! Why that's- Grrr! God, you know what?! Here!" She said in a rage as she flipped Jin's credit card at the snob. He exhaled tiredly as he ran the credit card through and looked at the name on the card. 

"Jin Kazama?" he said with a raised eyebrow. Ling swiped the card out of the man's hand and put it in her breast pocket. 

"Wow, congratulations, you can read!" She said with a fake enthusiasm as she clapped her hands. The salesman let out a groan and ripped the credit card slip off the machine. 

"Just sign it and please exit the store once you're finished." He placed the receipt in front of her and watched her sign the piece of paper as she grumbled. Once she was finished she snatched the bag away from spoiled brat and walked away. She stopped after a few feet and glanced into the plastic bag as a grin appeared across her face. The Chinese girl glanced around to make sure Jin was nowhere in sight before she pulled two small items from her pocket and slipped them it each of AB cargo pants pocket. An evil cackle came from her lips as continued along her way. The little mischievous girl then pulled out her lipstick from her pocket and held it at her waist as she scraped it against all the clothing she brushed against. 

"Put this is on sale too, asshole!" She whispered harshly as she ran toward the door. Once out of the store, she saw Jin waiting beside the limousine with the door open and like a suave young woman, she stepped into the limousine gracefully as possible. Jin followed after her and closed the door behind them, waving to the driver to continue on. 

"Sha`'zi! Zhuo' zhuo-! Baka! Aho!!" _(Idiot! Crude! Stupid! Asshole!!)_ Ling was still obviously pissed off at the salesman. Jin looked at her as she continued to spat out some more colorful phrases until she tossed the plastic bag to him. 

"Feel better?" Jin asked once she finished. The Chinese girl took a deep breath and exhaled all of her anger out. 

"Yep! I didn't think lipstick could be so handy." She said with a slight grimace while Jin sat there dumbfounded. As Jin contemplated what she meant, Ling pulled the clothes out of the bag and tossed them unto the Japanese's lap. Jin just looked up at her then back down at his new pair of clothes. 

"Here?" He whispered in a confused voice. 

"Well, duh! We're going to be late getting to the arcade and Hwoarangy's gonna already be there! He doesn't need to see you in your school uniform again!" She stated as Jin scratched behind his neck, looking away. 

"But, but-you're-you're a- I- I'm going to be only in my boxers!" he replied with a slight blush on his cheeks. Ling grew a huge grin. 

"I don't mind!" Jin sunk even lower into his chair as he felt himself becoming very uncomfortable before Ling burst out laughing. 

"I'm just kidding! Don't worry! I won't look!" she said as turned around to face the driver, to further prove her word. 

"Okaaaay," he said with a hint of caution in his tone. A close eye was kept on the conniving girl as she fiddled around with her purse and he began to strip down to his boxers. He watched Ling carefully as she sighed and placed her arms on the head of the seat. He deemed the situation safe and pulled the sweater over his head. Then, the cargo pants were slipped, making Kazama feel like he was in the safe zone from the Chinese girl. After he had finished dressing, they made their way to the arcade. The rest of the ride was peaceful and the two exchanged some laughs, the Japanese boy was free of Ling's torture… but not for long. As soon as the arcade was in sight, Ling gave certain directions to the driver, which lead them behind the building. The driver dropped them and drove off into the distance. Jin turned around to see nothing, but a tall 4-story building with one metal door right in the middle. He further examined the door and realized there were no handles of any kind. 

"How are we suppose to get in?" he asked, looking to Ling for an answer. The girl struck a pose once again and held her hand in the air. 

"Leave it to me!" She declared as she walked up to the strange door and started banging on it like a wild animal. Not even a few seconds passed before the battered beast of a door creaked open. A head popped out from behind the stainless steel and grinned at the sight of Ling. 

"Ni`'h`'ao," _(Hello)_ he said with a smile as the young dark haired Chinese stepped out onto the sidewalk. 

"Hei' ger- menr!" _(S'up!)_ Ling replied happily. The young man smiled at her response, she rarely greeted in him in such a familiar manner. He glanced over at Jin and raised a curious eyebrow. The Chinese man turned back to Ling and pointed at Jin, but Ling answered him before he could pose the question. 

"Zhe` wei` shi` Jin!" _(This is Jin!)_ Jin smiled a little and made a little wave as Ling wrapped her arms around him. The man laughed a little and held out his hand to Kazama. 

"Jian` dao` ni`' hen`' gao- xing`! Ni`' ye`' hui` shuo- guang`' dong- hua` ma?" _(Glad to meet you! Do you speak Cantonese also?)_ Jin's stare at the man was more than enough to answered the guy's question. 

"I'm sorry about that, I thought you knew Chinese," the unknown man said with a slight laugh before he continued, "I'm Kong Tiannu." He held out his hand once more to the Japanese with a cherry smile. 

"Kazama Jin, nice to meet you Kong-san." The Japanese replied, giving Kong a soft handshake. The Chinese man chuckled a little as he shook his head. 

"Please, call me Tiannu. There's no need for pleasantries here," Tiannu said, waving his hand as a gesture, "Well, Ling, Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix has been modified and is ready whenever you guys are." 

"Sweet! We'll be in there in a minute!" Ling emphasized by jumping up and down like a little kid. 

"All right, you kids have fun, I've got to get back to work." Tiannu waved a goodbye and disappeared behind the metal door, which was wedged open by a brick. 

"Xie` xei`, zia` Jian`!" _(Thanks, Goodbye!)_ Once Ling said her goodbyes, she began to twitter like a schoolgirl and faced Jin. 

"Everything is in place and now all that's left is for Hwoarangy and I to have a dance off!" She crackled as she tapped her fingers together while Jin tilted his head at her. 

"Why are you going to have a dance off with Hwoarang?" 

"Do you think I'm going to let you walk away without a kiss today? I think not!" She stated as she firmly placed her hands on her hips and tossed her head back. 

"A kiss? How's that going to happen?" Although Jin had been dreaming of that moment he could touch Hwoarang's soft lips, he just couldn't imagine it happening so soon. 

"Hehe, I'm going to make a gamble with him and I know Hwoarangy can't resist a challenge when it comes to DDR." She said cunningly, rubbing her hands together with a mad glee in her eyes. 

"That's great, but how do you make a bet using DDR?" 

"You silly! You use the grading system the game rates your performance on after every song!" She replied with a grin as she grabbed ahold of his hands. 

"How so? Do you use the grade it gives you? Like the E, D, C, B, A; E being the lowest and A being the best?" He asked as he held up Ling's hands, glancing over her palms while he thought about the gamble. 

"Nope, we count the steps you have in the song." She said as she watched him trace the marks in her palm with his finger. 

"Could you elaborate a little more?" Jin asked with a smile, he knew that Ling was going to question him. 

"… You do understand the concept of the arrow, right, Jinny?" The Japanese laughed softly. 

"Of course, when you get an up arrow then you step on the up arrow on the dance pad with your feet." He said as he pointed up for an indication of his comprehension. 

"All right, I was scared there for a moment. But just to be safe I'm going to use an example song like "Paranoia Rebirth". On Maniac mode, the song has a max of 433 steps. At the end of the song, the machine tells you how many perfects, greats, goods, boos, and misses you get." 

"Oh, right. You get "perfects" when you step just right to the beat, vocal, offbeats or whatever the arrows go to with the song. Then you get "greats" when you got it, but you could do a little better. Right?" He said with a brilliant smile as Ling acknowledged him with a nod. 

"Right! And the machine gives you credit for trying even though you were off the beat a little when it gives you "goods". "Boos" happen when you are so off of the song and you get a "miss" because you sucked so much that you didn't even try to step on the dance pad's arrows." 

"Right and you use how many perfects and such for the bet?" Jin asked. 

"Yes, whoever has the most perfects after one song, wins." The Japanese smiled lightheartly at the response, he finally understood how the gambling was going to work. However the look faded when another thought came across his mind. 

"But what a minute, didn't you mention once that Hwoarang was better than you at DDR?" A growl came out of the Chinese girl. 

"Yeah, little Miss Salutorian always gets S, SS, and SSS's on his songs!" She said with a hiss. A light frighten look appeared on Jin's face, he had another question to ask. 

"What's an S?" The Japanese asked nervously. Ling gave him the look of death. 

"You never got an S on a song before?!" The hyper Chinese girl screamed into his face. 

"No… should I have?" Jin asked, cowering once again before the mad fury of a girl. 

"Sigh, you really are clueless. You get an S on a song when you get only perfects and greats, however you had more greats than you should have. You get an SS with only perfects and greats, but you had very few greats. Then you get an SSS for having only perfects." She stated wearily as if she was a professional technical advisor for the game. 

"I'm guessing it's very rare to get those scores then." He said with an uneasy smile. 

"Hwoarangy's the only one in the world right now who can get SSS's on maniac level songs. I know, I checked on the Internet." Ling exhaled a quiet sigh. As much as she didn't want to admit it, Hwoarang was superior to her in DDR. Jin's jaw dropped in fear. 

"What?! Then how are you going to beat him with a bet?!" The high strung Jin managed to squeak out. Another grimace came across the wicked girl's face. 

"Because, I've been secretly practicing and he doesn't know how much I have improved. Hehe, his own favorite song is going to be turned against him." She cackled. Jin sighed tiredly after he attempted to comprehend all the thoughts that ran through the girl's mind. 

"I hope you know what you're doing." Ling grinned happily and gripped her hand into a fist. 

"Of course I do! If you think I have an ordinary yaoi complex then you got another thing coming for ya!" She declared, pointing at him before she continued, "Besides you two are going to look so cute together and I'm going to assume full responsibility for making a perfect match!" 

"You think so, huh?" Jin said with a warm smile. The Chinese girl smirked and ran up behind then started to push towards the main entrance which was on the other side of the building. 

"Well, we're not going to find out if we stand here all day, so go and meet up with him!" She said with a giggle as she continued to nudge the Japanese down the sidewalk. Jin grew a friendly smile as he looked over his shoulder and fixed his feet firmly on the ground. 

"But what about you?" The Chinese nearly face-planted into him when he stopped and tried to make him by using both of her arms, but nothing was happening. 

"What do you think I'm going to be doing? I'm going to be watching you two from inside!" She said with a slight growl as she started to use her whole body to try to push him along. 

"I'm going to talk to him all by myself?!" Jin flipped around to face once he realized what Ling was planning. Ling let out a laugh and stood stubbornly before the tall Japanese. 

"Oh, don't be such a scaredy cat!" She said as she folded her arms over her chest. 

"But isn't Hwoarang still in that "Ah! Testosterone! Must Claim Back My Masculinity/Revenge" mode?!" Jin said, hunched over Ling for answer. 

"He won't be once he sees you in that sweater!" Ling proclaimed with a grin. The Chinese looked up at the Japanese who was huddling over, she could see that he was still concerned about Hwoarang's state of mind. Ling smiled sincerely as she closed her eyes and patted him on the shoulder to comfort him "Don't worry, if things start going downhill, I'll come in!" Jin sighed with relief; that was all he needed to hear. Even though he had wanted this day to come for so long, he still was a little afraid of confronting Hwoarang alone. The Japanese turned around and began to head off to the main entrance, gathering up every ounce of courage he could find. 

"Knock his socks off, sekushi!" _(~,sexy)_ Ling shouted before she disappeared behind the metal door. As Jin walked, he focused on his breathing, taking deep breaths to calm himself down while he contemplated on how to greet Hwoarang. 

"Nice day, isn't it?" The nervous Japanese said out loud to himself as he crossed his arms over for warmth. Jin looked up at the sky to see that it was murky and cold, it was clearly not a nice day. He groaned as his first suggestion was shot down and continued to think of some more phrases until his head started to hurt. He hung his head in shame as he walked closer to the entrance. 

"This is ridiculous. I'm more insecure than Ling and she's a girl." Jin sighed deeply and concentrated one more time, clearly his mind of any doubts. He finally let out a smile and held his head high. 

"I'm trying too hard. I've just got to believe in myself and let it come natural." Jin smiled cozily as all of his fears and qualms began to be erased from his mind. 

"I'll never know if I don't try." He told himself and with that, he walked with confidence towards the front of the arcade where Hwoarang waited. As soon as Jin passed around the corner, he could see Hwoarang resting against a cement pillar. The Korean was wearing a white, unbuttoned collar shirt tucked into his pants with his cuffs undone at the end of his hands. His shirt was open to reveal his bare, naked well-toned chest and his soft, smooth stomach. As if that wasn't enough, the cold wind swept across his body to define his hard, perked nipples. Jin had to do a double take at the sexy sight of the Korean and nearly had his breath taken away from him. The Japanese was far done from scanning Hwoarang's body, he was going to enjoy this moment before he engaged in any conversation. As Jin studied the great and beautiful entity known as Hwoarang, he saw that the Korean was wearing tight, jet-black leather pants that formed over his strong, muscular legs nicely. Jin found himself doing a triple take at the handsome Korean and continue to look over him. The Japanese focused on Hwoarang's soft and tender face that hid behind the strands of the Korean's silky crimson hair that flowed in the wind. With the wind effect that Hwoarang was getting, it made him look like even more desirable. The Korean was for a lack of a better word, perfect, in the eyes of Jin. 

_God, even his hair looks good,_ Jin thought to himself. The Japanese shook his head to clear his mind again, Hwoarang was quite the distraction. Once Jin had prepared himself, he began to walk towards the Korean. As the Japanese stepped closer to the entrance, he saw that not from were Hwoarang was sitting, were the glass doors… with a Chinese girl drooling all over it. Jin laughed to himself and wished he were in her position. 

Hwoarang muttered to himself in Korean as he fumbling around his pocket for his cigarette pack. After a few seconds of fiddling around, he finally managed to pull out his trusty Camel pack and his favorite yin-yang zippo. The Korean wasted no time as he whipped out his nicotine stick and flipped his zippo open. They were late, but he sort of expected that with Ling. His sigh slipped passed the cigarette that was held his lips and lit the other end. He snapped his zippo closed with a metal clang and put his things back into his pocket. Before the Korean could take one drag, he saw Jin walking towards him. Hwoarang blinked a few times before he found himself observing the tall, dark Japanese. 

The first thing that Hwoarang noticed was Jin's tender, mysterious face that was wrapped n the warmth of his smile. The Japanese's raven hair glistened in the wind that attempted to cover his deep and intense brown eyes. The Korean found himself gazing at the nape of Jin's neck, which gave him a nagging urge to gnaw on it. Hwoarang glanced over the Japanese's delicate collarbone and gaped at smooth blue sweater that draped over Jin's built body. 

_Goddamn it, they know my weakness!,_ the Korean said to himself, but that didn't stop him from gaping at this foreign beauty. Hwoarang watched the light, silky sweater fold over Jin's muscles and became more in rapture as the cloth overlapped over the Japanese arms. The Korean was so engaged in Jin that he had forgotten about the cigarette in his mouth, which slipped out of his lips. Hwoarang came back to reality when he saw the flickering of ashes below his eyes as the cigarette dropped into his shirt. The Korean yelled when the cigarette burned against his body and fished around in his shirt for it. He finally pulled the bastard out and flicked the cigarette away. 

"Little fucker!" He whispered harshly. Hwoarang dusted the ashes off his shirt as the Japanese approached him. 

"I told you those are bad for you." Jin said with a gentle smile. The Korean looked up at his greeter and laughed as he shook his shirt free of anymore debris. 

"That was just one of those rare instants. Besides cigarettes aren't bad." Hwoarang crawled to his feet and brushed off the dirt off his pants. 

"Oh, really?" Jin raised eyebrow as he glared jokingly at Hwoarang for an answer. 

"Yeah, they make you appreciate air." The Korean replied with a grin. 

"Then you must really appreciate air when you're playing DDR." Jin said with a soft laugh. 

"After every song." The Korean's grin grew wider as he slipped his hands into his pocket before he continued, "No, I'm not that bad. Playing DDR isn't a problem because I don't feed my body crap!" Hwoarang yelled to Ling who was still panting like a dog behind the glass doors. 

"So… I'm guessing we're on friendly terms for Ling's sake today." The Japanese said with a light smile growing on his face. Hwoarang glanced over his shoulder and slightly hide his face underneath his hair. 

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that..." The Korean turned around to face his longtime nemesis and pulled his hands out of his pockets. 

"Since Ling is still punishing me, I'm gonna be seeing you nearly every day until the tournament…" Hwoarang began to scratch the base of his neck and shuffle his feet on the floor as he attempted to continue, "and I thought we might as well call for a truce." 

"Sounds like a good idea," The Japanese said as he stepped closer to the Korean and held out his hand, "Until the tournament then?" Hwoarang breathed a tender laugh and sighed. 

"Yeah," The Korean replied and shook Jin's hand. Hwoarang slipped his hand out of the handshake and grinned as he glared the Japanese, "Don't get me wrong, I still have every intention to defeating you, Kazama." Jin's smile faded away at those words while he exhaled quietly with his eyes closed and his head hung low. Hwoarang then turned his back to the mournful Japanese and began to walk away. 

"I plan to kick both your asses at the tournament," The Korean stated as he headed for the glass doors, "But… that doesn't mean we all can't be friends." Jin looked up as he watched the Korean walk away and a sigh of relief came from the Japanese's lips. The Japanese followed after the Hwoarang and noticed that the Korean stopped dead in his tracks. Jin glanced over Hwoarang's shoulder to see what was holding them up and saw Ling… collapsed on the floor with her leg convulsing in the air. The Japanese glanced over to see the Korean's eye twitching at the sight of the corrupted Chinese girl. Jin exhaled a sigh and closed his eyes at the embarrassing child. 

"I don't even want to comprehend what she's thinking now." Jin said as he opened the door and attempted to pull the spasm like girl into his arms. 

_Probably the same thing I am,_ Hwoarang joked to himself with a laugh. The Korean leaned stepped passed the glass doors and leaned over Ling. The Chinese girl slowly came back to reality and glanced up to see two handsome over her. In one swift hop, she wrapped her arms around the boys' neck and hung in mid air. 

"Two! Two bishes in one!" _(Bish: short for Bishounen... Bishounen: Hot Young Guy)_ The happy girl cried as the guys struggled to hold her weight. 

"Linnnnggg." Hwoarang said in a stern voice as he peered down at the Chinese girl. Ling gave a lop-sided grin then climbed to her feet and started hopping alternatively on her feet. 

"Well, now that you two are ready, let's go play some DDR!" She declared with her hand in the air as she marched off into the grand arcade. Jin and Hwoarang looked at each other for a moment and stared at Ling as she stumbled all over the walkway until they let out some laughs. Together, the two followed after the girl, who was digging around in her courier bag. 

"Hey, Hwoarangy!" Ling said as she turned around to face them with her trusty video camera in her hand. 

"Hey what?" He replied, looking at Ling suspiciously with an arched eyebrow. 

"Wanna see a naked Jin?" The Chinese girl smirked evilly as she tapped her fingers on her electronic companion. The Korean blinked a few times before he could finally answer. 

"Wha-?" 

"LING!!" The tortured Jin cried, interrupting Hwoarang before he could finish his word, "How did you-why-when did you-?" Ling giggled at the nervous wreck of a boy as she placed a hand on her hip and shook her finger in the air. 

"You should never change in front of a bishounen-yaoi obsessed fan girl!" The Chinese girl exclaimed, leaving Hwoarang gasping at the Japanese. 

"You changed in front of her?!" Hwoarang said in a shrill voice. 

"She had her back turned, I thought it was safe!" Jin sobbed as his head hung low once again. 

"There, there," Hwoarang comforted with a pat on the Japanese back, "We've all been a victim of this sick girl's demonic mind." Ling stomped her foot at the Korean's comment and stormed up into his face. 

"Hey! I resent that! I am not demonic!" She growled with a snort and turned to Jin with a cheerful smile, "And don't worry Jin, I'll make it up to you, I'll just show you the tape of Miss Saluta-" 

"LING. Your very life depends on you if you finish that statement." Hwoarang said grimly, cutting her off. The smile on the wicked girl transformed into a sly grin and her eyes narrowed at him. 

"Miss Salu-" The Chinese girl attempted to say. 

"Don't even." 

"Miss Sa-" 

"Okay, now I'm just gonna have to kick your ass." The Korean took one step towards the threatening girl before she squealed and darted off to the dancing machine. 

"Don't worry about it. The only person who's gonna watch it is her." Hwoarang said, trying to assure the red cheeked Jin. 

"That's what I'm worried about." The Japanese replied with an uneasy laugh. A horrid look came on Hwoarang's face. 

"Ugh! If that's the case, then we're both screwed." The Korean started to head towards the gaming machine, but stopped after he noticed that Jin hadn't budged. 

"Come on, don't let it get ya down. I'll save face for you by kicking her ass at DDR. She can't stand that and us victims have got to stick together, you know." Hwoarang gave a thumbs-up and began to wander in the direction of the machine. 

"All right." Jin chuckled softly and followed after the Korean. They hadn't walked far before several shrieks filled the air, which made them stop dead in their tracks. 

"AAAAAAHHHHhh! MIMASU! HWOARANG WA KOKO NI!" _(Look! Hwoarang's here!)_ The flock of fan girls screamed as they rushed towards the Korean from all directions. 

"Oh, Dear God in Heaven!" Hwoarang cried in a panic as he tried to look for an escape. 

"What is… going on?" Jin looked around nervously, watching the girls surrounding and appearing from all around. 

"Hold me!" The Korean said as he clasped his arms around Jin's neck and cowered against the Japanese chest. Kazama looked down at the frightened boy then glanced up at the herd of girls closing in on them. 

"Why do you have fan girls every-!?" Jin managed to cry before several girls pounced on them. In a few seconds the two men were swallowed up by the other bishounen obsessed girls. Jin had thought he was violated before, but all this grabbing and prodding gave a whole new definition to that word. Meanwhile, Hwoarang wondered why in Hell the Iron Tournament had to post his practice routine on daytime TV. Apparently, the split-level kicks Hwoarang performed in only his Tae Kown Do pants made he quite popular among the girls. The Korean was kicking himself in head for doing something so stupid or he wished he could at the moment. After a near minute of the fan girls begging for dates, his phone number, and… favors, a dark, voice vibrated through the air. 

**_"NaNi O sHiTeRu??" (WhAt ArE yOu DoInG?!)_** A low, fierce husky voice bellowed at the crowd of girls. The girls stopped and slowly turned around, frightened to see who was growling at them. Before them was enraged woman with eyes raging like brimstone, as if it was the fires of Hell itself. Her dark hair frilled violently in the air and her hands were gripped in a fist that made all the muscles in her arms bulge out. The schoolgirls gazed in horror at the sight of purgatory reincarnated in this young Chinese girl. 

**_"SoRe OtoKo wA WaTaShI nO MoNo!" (ThOsE mEn ArE mInE!)_** The guttural voice roared. 

**_"SaRu!!" (LEAVE!!)_**The girls began to cautiously creep away from the Japanese and the Korean, keeping their eyes at the delirious woman. However, the furious Chinese girl wanted their pathetic presence out of her sight instantly. 

**_"IMAAAA!!!" (NOW!!)_** The girls scattered away like insects to reveal the two battered, disheveled boys. Ling walked over to them, still in her monstrous form and glared at any other female whom dared to catch a glimpse of her "possessions". Jin peered tentatively at this alternate form of Ling and hesitated to try to communicate with her. 

"Umm… Ling?" The Japanese asked, cowering against Hwoarang for safety. The beast suddenly disappeared to show a happy, perky Chinese girl. 

"Haaaiii, Jinni-Sama!" _(Yes, Lord Jinny!)_ The estatic girl wailed as she clasped against the Japanese's chest. A confused, exasperated look came across Jin's face, everything about Ling was just bewildering. Hwoarang on the other hand, tapped his fingers against his pants. 

"Ling, you are by far, the most bipolar girl I have ever met." The Korean stated. In an instant, Ling's eyes narrowed and Hwoarang's leg was greeted by a kick to the shins. 

"Ling… you just proved his point." Jin said with a slight stern look while Hwoarang grunted a little at the girl, but shrugged it off. 

"Well, anyway, you are a freak, but thanks for getting rid of the fan-club." The Korean sighed tiredly as he thought of how many girls were captivated by him and scratched his neck. Ling sensed Hwoarang's weary thoughts and hopped over to him like a comforting puppy. 

"Yes, they did seem to leave in a hurry when Ling came along. Although, I was getting ready to run for the door too when I saw Ling like that." Jin commented as he glanced at the fawning Chinese girl. 

"That's this kid's one good and only use." Hwoarang said, plopping his hand on Ling's head who was pouting already. 

"I suppose, but why were they so scared?" Jin looked off to find any of their assailants, but none of them were in sight. Hwoarang laughed uncomfortably and grind his teeth together as he tried to look Jin in the eye. 

"Yeah, well, Ling, uh… she kinda, uh…she kinda beat the shit out of them the last time they attacked me." 

"Ling!" Jin was overcome with shock, he never thought Ling would ever be that violent. 

"What?! They were touching him! And Hwoarangy's mine!" She said trying to defend herself as she wrapped herself around Hwoarang's arm. 

"Better than a guard dog, huh?" Hwoarang grinned and patted Ling on the head, who made a cute growl in agreement. Jin laughed a little at their brother-sister relationship and looked at Hwoarang with a slight smile. 

"So, you're a girl magnet?" The Japanese asked. 

"Not because I want to be! God!" Hwoarang replied quickly with a disgusted look. 

"Yeah, he'd rather be popular with the boys!" Ling exclaimed, sticking her tongue out. The Korean felt his eye twitch again and glared at Ling, who was still sticking her tongue out at him. Hwoarang took the opportunity to then smack the Chinese girl across the head. 

"Oww, don't hit me! Jinny, tell him not to hit me!" Ling said as she hid behind the Japanese and pushed him closer to Hwoarang. Jin stared at the Korean blankly, not knowing what to say. 

"Well?" Hwoarang placed his hands on his hips and took a step closer to Jin, "Are you going to tell me stop hitting her?" The Japanese could feel the Korean's hot breath and quickly looked away. 

"I don't know if I'm the person to tell you to stop doing anything." 

"Ha! Whatcha gonna do now, Ling?" The Korean taunted, peering over Jin. 

"Well, ah, I'm gonna-I'm gonna play DDR, that's what I'm going to do!" She said as she began to run for the dancing machine. 

"Oh, no you don't!" The Korean declared as he grabbed hold of one of the Chinese girl's pigtails then tossed her to the ground and grasped Jin's sweater, pulling him along, "Come on, Jin!" Hwoarang said as he raced for the machine, dragging Jin behind. The Korean finally let go of the Japanese and hopped over the machine's bracing bar, landing on the metal dance pad. Hwoarang looked back to see Jin close on his tail and watched him as he stepped up to the machine. And not too far behind Jin, scampered the Chinese girl who immediately stood behind the two boys and stomped her feet solidly on the floor with her hands clutched into fists at her thighs. 

"That was dirty, Hwoarangy!" The flustered girl roared with her one messed up ponytail bobbing up and down. The Korean sighed with a laugh and turned around to face the girl, leaning his arms over the dancing bar. 

"And that's just the way I like it!" Hwoarang said with a grin. Ling's cheeks turned to a wine red and gaped at the naughty Korean. 

"Pervert! Jinny, tell him play fair!" The Chinese girl said as she bounced like a hyper bunny in front of the Japanese. Jin just stared dumbfounded at the feisty, buoyant creature before him. Hwoarang raised an eyebrow and glanced over at the eccentric Ling. 

"Hey! Quit treating Jin like he's the a mother-figure!" The Korean yelled at the springing, nagging insect of a girl. Ling stopped leaping in the air and stomped on the floor as she turned to Hwoarang. 

"Jin has a mind of his own, don't you, Jinny? Now to tell him to play fair!" She hollered, quickly turning back to the Japanese. Jin sighed and leaned over the bar as well, smiling at the determined little girl. 

"Now, Ling, all's fair in love and war." Ling's jaw dropped to the floor at her sudden betrayal and stood there awestruck at Jin. Hwoarang roared up a laugh and propped his elbow on the Japanese's shoulder. 

"Now, that's my man!" The Korean exclaimed, making Jin's face turn to a soft rose pink. 

"You two are so dead!!" The Chinese girl growled as she scurried off like a rat into the arcade. Hwoarang chuckled to himself and patted Jin lightly on the back. 

"Well, come on, I'll let ya choose the first song." Jin smiled to himself and turned to the machine, flipping through the songs with the select button that was below the screen. Oddly enough, the Japanese could hear Ling's voice echoing through his head. 

_If you and Hworangy end up on the DDR machine together then you have to choose "In the Navy"!,_ resonated over and over inside Jin's head as if it was on repeat. Jin did feel a little guilty for not siding with Ling and thought perhaps he could make it up to her by choosing that specific song. The Japanese shrugged a "why not?" and selected the song. Hwoarang looked over at Jin with an arched eyebrow. 

"That song's gayer than Velvet Goldmine." The Korean stated, peering at the Japanese. Jin smiled warily and laughed a little. 

"But I really love the galloping part." The Japanese said trying to defend himself. However, the truth was Jin was horrible at galloping, he just had a hard time skipping quickly from one foot to the other then slowly down and repeating the process. Hwoarang sighed and just held his hand in the air. 

"All right, it's your song. You could have picked Sung Suk, Ba Kkwo, Wa, or any other Korean song, but nooooo. You had to pick one that Ling makes me play every damn time!" The Korean said, placing his head in his hand as the song began to start. Jin closed his eyes and made another uneasy smile. 

"I'm sorry." Hwoarang snorted a sigh and braced himself for the song. 

"Eh, don't worry about. I'm just still upset that Ling is able to beat me at this song." The Korean and the Japanese both, turned their attention to the screen and concentrated on reading the arrows that came scrolling up from the bottom on the screen. Hwoarang gave a tired sigh and started singing the song's lyrics as he stepped to the beat. 

"In the Navy! We want you… in the Navy! We want you in the captain's crew!" Hwoarang sang, which resembled a lot like "In The Navy" by the Village People. But Hwoarang started to improvise the lyrics as soon as the galloping part came in. 

"In the Navy, this song's gayer than Nsync!" The Korean sung out loud as he began to prance around the metal dance pad as if he was a school kid skipping around. Meanwhile, Jin concentrated with all might to read and comply with arrows, making a decent struggle skipping from one foot to another. Then there was Ling, who was gazing in awe at the two handsome stretching their legs about the dance pad. The Chinese girl had always loved this game, but now… after watching a sexy Korean and beautiful Japanese flexing their muscular legs in the air and tightening their forms in teasing ways, Ling was ready to make Dance Dance Revolution a religion that was to be worshipped everyday. The girl just stood there, filming the entire event in one hand and taking pictures with her camera in the other, while drooling a waterfall on the arcade's carpet. 

The song was halfway finished when Hwoarang finally got into the spirit of the song and began to sing the lyrics for real. The Korean started to read the notes more carefully and found some spots where he could do some spins around the dance pad. Hwoarang took a quite glance over to the left at Jin who was studying the screen intently and grinned when he realized he was less than a foot away from the Japanese. The Korean wasted no time to perform a 360-degree spin in clockwise motion as he sang the chorus one more time. 

"You can sail the seven seas! In the Navy!" The Korean sang, slapping Jin on the ass as he returned to his original position from his spin. Jin's face turned instant pepper red as his concentration flew right out the window while Ling stood gaping with her mouth wide open at what she just saw. The Chinese girl was in so stunned that her camcorder and camera fell out of her hands while her hands hung at her side, reaching a state of overwhelming beyond words. The whole time Ling was in Heaven, Jin was still in as red as a beet and gave up on trying to continue to play. The Japanese just crossed one arm and held his crimson face in his hand. Hwoarang, however, never wavered from prancing around the metal pad. After a few moments, Ling came slamming back to reality and she scrambled for her camera to check the last picture she had took on the thing, hoping she had caught Hwoarang at the right moment. With a press of a button, she had learned that she had captured the exact moment. Her camera now was deemed priceless in her eyes as well as the shocked look Jin gave the Korean. As soon as the song came to an end, Jin was finally able to show himself to the world and saw he had gotten an "E", meaning he had failed the entire song. Which was want the Japanese expected, who could concentrate after getting slapped on the ass by an arousing Korean? The Chinese girl came pouncing up like a tiger to the two dance pads, now was her chance to give Jin an opportunity he had always wanted. Ling tried to shake off the shivers she was getting from remembering that picture and glanced over Hwoarang's score. 

"201 perfects out of a possible 307. Wow, you suck Hwoarangy." She said in a tad of a snobbish voice. Hwoarang blinked a few times and looked at her. 

"Say what?" The Korean attempted to say calmly. Ling balled her hands up into fists and placed them on her hips. 

"I said you suck big time." The Chinese girl stated with a yawn, she knew she had hit a nerve big time. Hwoarang loomed over, trying to keep his temper under control and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"And I suppose you could do better?" The Korean's eye was twitching beyond control at the offending child. Ling just scoffed and placed her hands on the bars while she tilted her head with her eyes closed. 

"Well, DUH. And I could do it slapping Jin on the ass ten times." She said, looking away from him. Hwoarang actually blushed softly and glanced briefly at Jin before he started growling. 

"ALL RIGHT! THAT'S IT! YOU AND ME! RIGHT HERE! RIGHT NOW!" Hwoarang said stomping his foot on the machine while pointing to the DDR screen. Ling's eye lit up at the mention of those words and she grinned slyly. She peered over her shoulder at Jin, who was trying to read her mind. She gave Jin a quick wink and turned to face her all time DDR rival. 

"Bring it on! 3 rounds based on how many perfects you get and the winner gets to make the loser do anything after each round!" Ling proclaimed as she held a finger to the Korean. Hwoarang smirked and looked down on her. They both knew who was superior to one another, but Ling was positive that if she believed in herself enough then she could keep her promise to Jin. 

"You're on." The Korean said with a wicked smile. Ling returned the evil look back at him and held her hands on her waist once more. 

"All right. If I win then you have to kiss Jin." The Korean's grin dropped to the floor and was replaced by a near blank look. 

"What?" Hwoarang tried to say without stammering and blushing. Ling kept the stubborn look on her face and took a step closer to the Korean. 

"You heard me, if you lose then you're going to kiss Jin." Hwoarang shook his head, trying to keep his mind out of the gutter and trying not to embarrass himself. 

"Now-now-now wait a minute! You can't suggest something like that! We can't throw Jin in the middle of this!" Hwoarang quickly looked to the Japanese for some support, "Jin, back me up on this!" Jin skimmed over Hwoarang, trying to read his emotions. Unable to determine anything, the Japanese looked to Ling, thinking that it may be inappropriate. 

"He may be right, Ling." Jin said softly, which just made the Chinese girl even more fixated on this and she turned sternly to the Japanese. 

"What's the matter, Jin? Don't want to lose your first kiss to a guy?" She said out loud for the whole world to hear as she held her nose in the air. Once again, the poor Japanese blushed instantly while his hair puffed out like a hissing cat. Hwoarang did a double take of Jin until he could be able to answer. 

"FIRST KISS?!" The Korean cried, looking to Jin for an answer 

"We agreed that the winner can make the loser do anything he or she wants!" Ling stormed, staying in her dominant stance in front of the Korean. 

"Well, yeah, but-" Hwoarang tried to say, scratching his head, "But he's a virgin!" he cried in a loud voice pointing to the direction of the labeled virgin, loud anything to catch anyone's attention in the arcade. Ling blinked a few times at the Korean. 

"Okay, what kind of kiss are you thinking about?" She asked, getting a glimpse of the red popsicle stick known as Jin. 

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!" the Korean stormed. 

"Okay, so you're backing out of a bet because of that?" The Chinese girl said interrupting him. Hwoarang gave her that look. This girl just knew where and how to hit Hwoarang's spots. 

"Well, no, but-!" He replied, trying to figure out a good argument against this. 

"Well, then what's it gonna be?!" Ling growled into his face, expecting an immediate answer. Hwoarang sighed and glanced over to Jin again, he just didn't know what to say. Ling sensed his puzzlement and exhaled tiredly, stepping off the dance pad. 

"I'll let you think about it." She said as she drifted off into the arcade, but not before she poked from behind a machine to say, "But only for a minute!" And with that, the Japanese and the Korean were left alone. Silence seemed to be there main conversation as they exchanged glances now and then. Jin watched the Korean, studying his every moment from his posture to his breathing. The Japanese could see Hwoarang was quite uncomfortable with the thought of kissing him and the reflection he could see in the Korean's eye showed the inner turmoil. Jin exhaled a long sigh and looked at Hwoarang's face with a sorrowful longing. As much the Japanese didn't want to say, he had to. The last thing Kazama wanted to do was to force the Korean into this sort of situation. Even though it pained the Japanese to back away from his desires, if Hwoarang didn't feel the same way then it would be in vain and it would make Jin's affections even harder to deal with. 

"You should tell her you don't want to do this." Jin gazed at the Korean as his rubbed his neck in thought and watched as Hwoarang dropped his hand to his side. 

"It's that I don't want to-" Hwoarang stopped himself, realizing that he was about to say what he really felt. What the hell was I thinking?, the Korean told himself and shuffled his feet along the floor as he tried to figure out a way to explain this without his dying urge taking hold of his tongue. 

"I mean, Ling and I always make bets with each other and neither one of us have backed down… I guess you could say this is how we strive for perfection. Neither one of us wants the other one to win and… I don't want to break that tradition." The Korean said, trying to clear Jin of any of Hwoarang's real intended thoughts. Jin forced a small smile and sighed a soft laugh as he looked away. 

"No offense, but it's funny that someone who gets SSS's on Maniac songs is afraid of making a gamble with someone who is inferior to them." Hwoarang looked up at the Japanese as the statement began to make sense to the Korean. Hwoarang started laughing, chuckling louder as he continued. 

"You know? You're right! I never worried about consequences before, why should I now? I'll always be better then her, so there's no point to being nervous!" The Korean said as he slapped the metal bars of the machine and turned around lean his back against them. Jin smiled with a hint of joy, he was relieved that the Korean was in a better mood. "That's good. So, what are you going to make her do if you win?" Hwoarang totally blanked on that question for a few seconds and remembered this is a 3 round bet. The Korean lightly slapped his forehead and lightly placed his hand into his silky hair. 

"I haven't even thought of that!" And then the most intense, evil grin came across the Korean's face as he pondered the wagers, "How should I punish for the shit she's made me done?" Hwoarang said as his other hand tapped against the metal with light pings. At that moment, Jin heard his mother's philosophy echoing through his head; "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Japanese chuckled a few laughs and turned to the Korean. 

"I always believed that someone should always have a taste of their own medicine." Hwoarang's eyes grew wide with excitement as his grin became more wicked. The Korean wrapped his arm around Jin's neck, pulling him into a grapple hold and rubbed his knuckles into Kazama's hair. 

"Jin, you're a genius!" Hwoarang exclaimed as he leaned his arm on the Japanese's shoulder and glanced around the room, "Now, who will be that lucky guy?" In the corner of his eye, Kazama spotted the perfect subject for their little experiment. 

"How about that one?" The Japanese pointed to the bench where one man sat, trying to maintain consciousness. The Korean leaned over Jin and followed along the direction of the Japanese's finger. Hwoarang grinned at the sight of the person, feeling the sweet taste of revenge. 

"Oh, yeah! Payback's a bitch!" The two boys smiled happily at each other and started laughing. Once Hwoarang stopped laughing, he realized he was just inches away from the Japanese's gentle face. The Korean turned a little inward, trying not to be so obvious. Hwoarang glanced down, the fuzzy sweater was weight slightly off the Japanese's shoulder revealing a bare collarbone. The Korean gritted his teeth together while his free hand dig into the bars, scratching lightly against steel. 

_He's so close… it's like I could touch him…_ Hwoarang blinked a few times then remembered he is touching him, the Korean still had his arm around the Japanese's shoulder. Hwoarang felt like smacking himself for being so corny and tried to focus on breathing. However, when he took a deep breath in, he smelled the sweet, strong aroma of Jin's cologne and found himself taking another intense breath, sighing dreamily to himself. Soon, the Korean was fighting himself from gnawing on Jin's neck. 

_MUST.. CONTAIN.. THYSELF,_ the Korean stated firmly to himself. Why was it so hard for the Korean to tell Kazama how he felt? What was stopping Hwoarang from pulling Jin into his arms and napping on his neck? The Korean cursed himself for his pride, his stubbornness, but as much as he wanted to blame it on past's feelings, the truth was he was scared. He was afraid of opening himself to someone else once again, frightened of the fact that he would trust that person with his heart. It had been so long since he felt safe with someone else, but Hwoarang still longed for that sense of security during these isolated years. If Hwoarang wanted that feeling again then he would have to leave himself defenseless at Jin's mercy, but then again that is what it means to be free. To be completely open and naked to another person and they embrace for everything you are. Hwoarang wanted everything about Jin, his body, his mind, soul, bonds… love… everything. He could admit it to himself, but could he find it in himself to be free again? The Korean just gazed at the lovely Japanese as he continued to point out several people and sighed himself, clearing his thoughts. 

Ling watched her bishounen from behind the arcade machines, observing their every movement. The Chinese hopped off the stool and prepped her video equipment while she hopped around happily to herself. 

"Finally, all my hard work is going to pay off!" She squealed to herself as she slipped in a new memory card for her camcorder and placed it back in her bag. 

"Oh, Ling is so happy!" She said as she balled her fist up together and jumped around. Ling looked down at her watch and decided she had given the boys enough time to themselves. Taking a deep breath, the Chinese girl focused on her breathing and her concentration. All the hours she had practiced on Hwoarang's favorite song will finally be put to the test. And like a cheerful bunny, she pranced back over to her friends and clasped her hands together. She was thrilled that the two were getting along so well, everything was going according to plan. 

"Weeeeeell, have you decided?" The girl said in a coy voice as she laced her fingers on top of the metal bar. 

"Of course, you'd think I'd back down from a challenge? However, I suggest we get this over in two songs. You chose one and I chose one." Hwoarang replied with a grin and looked at Jin, who returned a smile. 

"Heh, easy enough!" The Chinese girl swung herself over the bar and landed on the dance pad. She performed her favorite, dominant pose with her hands on her hips and tilted her head at her DDR nemesis. 

"Oh, by the way, Hwoarangy, you have to actually kiss Jin for 10 seconds and I don't want none of that still life statue crap! You're gonna be lip locking and sucking!" She indicated with her pointed finger. Hwoarang laughed and leaned his hand on the metal bar. 

"All right, but keep in mind that you have to do that too." The Chinese girl's pose diminished into thin air as her mouth gaped open. 

"WHAT?" Ling was still trying to comprehend what just had been said. 

"It's not fair that I'm the only one to give away free kisses, so if I win, you have to kiss the person I selected specifically for you." Ling's was overcome with shock. She looked to Jin for some sort of explanation, but he just smiled warmly and gave her wave. Hwoarang grinned at the girl's misfortune and ran his fingers through his hair. 

"Unless, you're too afraid." The Korean said with a shrug. In an instant, Ling gained back her fiery attitude and growled. 

"I'm not afraid of nothing!" The Chinese girl slammed her feet onto the metal pad, commanding that they play. Hwoarang peered over to Jin and gave him a wink. The Japanese gave a happy smile with a slight shrug, trying to hide the hint of red coming over his face. Hwoarang grinned to himself; this was going to be riot. The Korean laced his fingers together and cracked his knuckles calmly, then faced Ling. 

"Don't…" the Korean said as he popped the bones in his neck, moving it around in a circle, "cry." Ling snorted at him before leaping for the selecting buttons. 

"I get to choose first!" Ling claimed as she started to flip through the song list until she spotted the perfect song. Hwoarang groaned at the sight of the song she had selected and held his head in his hand. 

"What the hell is it with you and galloping songs?! Goddamn "Luv To Me!!" the Korean cried as he tossed his head in frustration. Ling wasted no time to start the song and hoped it would catch the Korean off guard. As soon as Hwoarang glanced up he saw the scroll of arrows flying up the screen. 

"Oh, shit!" the Korean yelled on reflex, quickly gaining his balanced stance for the approaching steps. Ling grinned at Hwoarang's response, thinking she had an advantage over him now. Jin watched the two hot heads slam their feet aggressively against the metal pad, he was sort of surprised that they hadn't tried to push each other. However, Jin did know this was an important match… in a very strange way. Both of their honor and skill are being tested in this endurance jumping game, or rather sport. This was more than a game to them and the Japanese could see that with the determined looks on their faces. 

Ling growled as the song came near then end and put all of her heart, mind, and soul in her last steps before she finally collapsed on the dance pad. Hwoarang glanced down at the panting Ling with a wicked a smile. 

"Still breathing?" The Korean taunted with one hand up in the air and the other slightly tucked into his pants. The Chinese girl gave a little wolf growl, but her attention quickly turned to the screen, which was tallying up their scores. Jin crept up behind the two and hopped up between the metal bars as he read off the given scores. 

"297 perfects against Hwoarang's 324 perfects…" The Japanese said, as he tried to give a not so nervous smile to the Chinese girl. 

**"NANI?!!?!" _(WHAT?!)_** Ling screamed as it echoed throughout the arcade. The Chinese girl started snarling ferociously and began kicking her feet nonstop against metal pad. Hwoarang and Jin watched in embarrassment as Ling threw a temper tantrum like a three-year old kid. 

"Done yet?" The Korean peered down at the childish girl, who was pouting her lips at him. The Chinese girl stood promptly and firmly crossed her arms over her chest. 

"FINE, pick the loser I have to kiss!" Ling said, looking away for her male companions. 

"Now, Ling why do you have to be like that?" The Korean said in a soft voice that irritated the hell out of Ling as he placed an arm over her shoulders, "Just think of it this way, the person won't be a loser anymore, well, because you were gracious enough to grant him a kiss." The Chinese girl remained stiff and cold in the Korean's slight embrace. 

"Bite me." Ling stated as she narrowed her eyes at Hwoarang. The Korean grinned happily and softly grabbed Ling's chin in one hand, pointing her in the direction of her "loser" who was sitting on a bench. 

"He's looking rather lonely, don't ya think?" Ling nearly gagged at the sight of person and whipped around to face Hwoarang, but before she could even get a response out the Korean pushed her off in the gentleman's direction. 

"Well? Get to it!" The Korean smirked as the girl stumbled towards the fortunate man. Hwoarang hung his arms over the metal bar, resting himself against the bar comfortable. Jin quietly stepped up behind the Korean and crosses his arms over his chest, holding his elbows in his palms. 

"I don't think she'll ever forgive you for this." The Japanese said with a soft laugh. 

"Oh, she'll live. What doesn't kill her makes her stronger." The Korean replied with a hand waving in the air. 

Ling quickly glanced over her shoulder to see her two friends watching her every move then turned back to the person she had to kiss. She groaned at the sight of the pathetic man and felt her body go limp. The Chinese girl shook her head violently, trying to regain back her vibrant energy… she was going to need a lot of it for this. With strong and forced determination, she walked towards the male sitting on the bench. However, the closer she got, the more she wanted to run away screaming. The "gentleman" Hwoarang had chosen for her was a withered, old man. Every step Ling took, revealed another unattractive trait, but the one that bothered her the most was his skin that looked like a decaying wrinkled, sun-dried pear. Ling closed her eyes, hoping she could erase the image of the old fart, but his tattered, uncombed hair and sagging lips was enough to give her nightmares for life. 

_Oh, my God, he's molding!_ Ling whimpered in her mind. She stood in front of him as she cowered at her fate. The Chinese girl took the deepest breath she could take and slightly let out a terrified shriek before swooping the sagging face in her hands. As she forced her lips to press against the shriveling prune lips, feeling every crack and wrinkle in his lips. Ling held in her breath as she squirmed against the surprised elder, afraid of smelling the decaying skin. It was enough already that she had to taste the mildew and not to mention the saliva that was started to creep to the old man's lips. Jin and Hwoarang were watching from afar, leaning over the DDR bars with suspense, especially the Korean who was taping this entire event with Ling's own weapon of choice, the camcorder. The boys snickered to themselves as the poor Chinese girl was stomping her feet wildly on the carpet to release her anger. Finally, Ling was facing the laws of karma for all the things she had done to the Korean and the Japanese. The mere sight of Ling struggling with her doom gave a sinister, yet pleasing sensation. 

"7… 8… 9…!" Jin said with slight laugh. Before the Japanese could say "ten", the two boys saw the old man's hand slide up Ling's skirt, grabbing her ass. As soon the two started gaping at the sight, a high pitch scream ripped through the entire arcade, traveling even to the upper floors. The Chinese girl came running at her two bishounen with her hands flailing around in the air… she was still screaming. The moment she was before her suppose friends, she was hunched over spitting and gagging at their feet. 

"Dear God!" Hwoarang cried, hopping a step back away from the salivating girl. Jin just made a soft smile, which Ling quickly interpreted as a grin. However, that didn't matter to the unfortunate child who could still feel the taste of the decaying old man on the tip of her tongue. In a instant, Ling pounced on the Korean's shirt, holding it in her shaking hands, and dragged her tongue dry all over it. 

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LING!!!" The Korean quickly ripped his shirt away from the violating girl and tried the shake the fabric dry. 

**_"I HATE YOU, HWOARANG!!!!!"_** The girl roared angrily, trying to loom over him. Before Hwoarang could even answer, she whipped around, facing Jin and yanked his sweater into her hands. 

**_"AND I HATE YOU, JIN!!!"_** She yelled at the Japanese. 

"But I didn't even do anything!" Jin replied, trying to defend himself against this mad woman. 

"Now, now, Ling," Hwoarang interrupted, pulling Ling's hand from Jin's lovely sweater before continuing, "You reap what you sow and it sucks to be you now because we're starting Round 2." The Korean grinned evilly without fear at the psychotic state of a girl. 

"You wouldn't!" She hissed back, baring her fangs at the threatening Korean. Hwoarang gave a corrupt smile as he stepped out of the way to reveal his song of choice, which was one of the five most difficult songs on the entire 3rd Mix 45 song list machine. 

"WHY ME, GOD?!?!?!" She cried, grabbing ahold of Jin's mysterious butterfly blue sweater, shaking it wildly as her voice reached up to heaven. She collapsed against Jin, on the verge of sobbing. The Japanese winced as the helpless girl and lightly embraced with his arms. Even though she had put him through hell, it was hard for him to laugh at her misfortunate or anything cruel for that matter. 

"Paranoia Rebirth really isn't all that bad, is it Ling?" The Japanese said in a soft voice, patting her on the back. Hwoarang smile grew even wider at the mention of the song's name. 

"It's my song!" The Korean gloated proudly and slapped the button to begin the second session of the DDR bet. 

"Your song?" Jin asked, but before he could ask another question he saw Ling looking at him. She was grinning happily with her eyes closed and her tongue sticking out at him playfully. He eyes flipped open and she gave the Japanese a quick wink before hopping to the dance pad. In that moment, Jin realized that this was what Ling was talking and prepared about. In a few seconds the two were pounding their feet against the metal pads with nothing but sheer concentration on their faces. Jin watch his fellow companions studying the screen immensely and beating their feet to the rhythm of the song, seeing nothing but perfects and greats flashing at the top of the screen. The Japanese snapped back to reality when Ling broke the silence. 

**_"FUUUUUCKKKK!!!!!"_** She yelled in utter frustration, and in that brief second Jin saw a good pop up on the screen. The Chinese girl started slamming her feet even hard and on the last step, she smashed the left arrow pad with all her strength. A light shatter singed the air and Ling foundered to the floor, showing the cracked on the clear plate. While Ling panted tiredly, Hwoarang gave his shirt a little shake and wiped off the small amount of sweats that collected along the sides of his head. 

"I hardly broke a sweat!" The Korean said proudly as he leaned against the metal bar, waiting for the scores to be tallied up. The screen glowed brightly, revealing the scores, the future fate for the players. 

"Let's see here," Hwoarang said with a cocky voice as he read of the scores, "And A for you and a SS for me." Ling let a low growl at the mention of the word and preceded to pout on dance pad while he continued. 

"Wow, Ling a 419 combo, to think you had only 14 steps left to go. Too bad you can't be perfect like me." The Korean taunted with a arrogant smile. The Chinese girl grunted and began to trance the dance arrow like a child playing in the sand. 

"Well, I may not be perfect, but…" Ling said with a slight sniff and let an air of silence drift through before continuing, _"…BUT AT LEAST I DON'T HAVE KISS JIN!!!"_ The hyper girl jumped to her feet and stuck her tongue out at Hwoarang while saluting. 

"Wh-Wha-What the hell are you talking about?!" The Korean tried to say without sounding confused. 

"HELLO! We're having a perfect attack here, not a combo attack, Hwoarangy dear!" The girl replied, not hiding the sound of conceit in her voice. Hwoarang stared at her blankly for a few seconds before he could find words. 

"But there's no way, you could have beaten my greats!" The Korean's face whipped quickly to the screen, reading over his scores again. 

"I had 403 perfects and 30 greats!!" The Korean then peered over to Ling's score and his jaw dropped at the sight of it. 

**_"432 PERFECTS AND 1 GOOD!?!!?!?"_** Hwoarang's eyes instantly turned to Ling, who was wearing the victory smile. Ling glanced over at Jin and grinned like the Cheshire Cat then focused back to Hwoarang. 

"Pucker up!" The Chinese girl cried victoriously, sticking her tongue out at the Korean once again. Hwoarang grabbed the metal bar for support, trying to comprehend how he lost. 

"No-Now, now, just wait a minute!" The red head protested, waving his hands in front of himself for emphasis, "I can't kiss JIN!!" Hwoarang eyes widen at the sight of Ling. Her eyes had narrowed, showing only the dark, deep intense black that seeped from her eyes and her body arched , cringed angrily as she turned to face him. 

"CAN'T… KISS… HIM?" A cold, chill went down Hwoarang spine as those words were spoken in a slow, morbid tone. The Chinese girl swiftly wrapped her hands around both of boys clothing and yanked them towards, making them face her wrath. 

**"I.KISSED.AN.OLD.MAN..THAT.ALREADY.HAD.HALF.OF.HIS.FOOT.IN.THE.GRAVE.. AND.YOU.TWO CAN'T EVEN KISS WHEN YOU BOTH HAVE GOOD PERSONAL HYGIENE!?!?!?"** The violent girl began to roar as her gripped tightened even more around the boys' fabrics. 

"THAT OLD MAN HAD HIS LIZARD TONGUE IN MY MOUTH!!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT A TATTERED, LIMP TONGUE FEELS LIKE?!?!? AND NOT TO MENTION HE EVEN TRIED TO GET HIS HAND INTO MY UNDERWEAR!!!" In a flash, the girl yanked Hwoarang over the bar and slammed both of the full-grown men onto the floor. Her shadow loomed over the two as she stood with her chest puffed out and her hands clenched to her hips. The fury of the violated girl pointed her finger jaggedly with her fingernails lightly extended out like claws. 

"If I can kiss the undead, it wouldn't kill you two grown healthy, sexy men to kiss each other!!" She roared, stomping her foot for emphasis once again on the poor, shattered DDR pad. Hwoarang and Jin sat on the floor with their long, firm legs sprawled out on the carpet and their hands behind their back, supporting their weight. The two boys sat side by side as they tried to gain the courage to look at one another. Hwoarang finally brought the tension as he pulled himself up and hunched over his body. He glanced over at Jin who was staring meekly at the floor and took a deep breath. 

"Okay… all right… We can do this." The Korean said, trying to encourage himself as he edged slightly closer to Kazama. He looked directly into the Japanese's eyes as he gestured his hand around in the air. 

"All right, it's just kiss, it's not exactly like running through the street naked, right?" Hwoarang wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, but Jin seemed to have nodded slightly at the notion. The Japanese felt his fingernails digging into the cracks of the carpet as Hwoarang moved closer and closer to him until he could the beautiful brush against him. A soft gulp grew in the Jin's throat as the Korean crawled between his quietly shaking legs. Jin felt his heart pounding wildly against his chest as Hwoarang placed his hands over the Japanese's legs and at his sides. As the Korean leaned in with his eyes closed, the nervous Japanese clenched his eyes shut and could practically taste the Korean's hot breath on his face. 

"It's just kiss…" the Korean murmured softly to himself, but the Japanese heard every word and right when Hwoarang leaned in to kiss him, Jin ripped himself away. The Japanese quickly used his hands, scampering backwards, knocking Hwoarang's hands out from under him, sending him on a crash course to Jin's crouch. The Korean swiftly landed on his left elbow and prevented himself from coming face to face with the Japanese's hot spot, but not shortly after Jin's knee smacking into Hwoarang's jaw which in turn sent the abused Korean to floor. 

"What the hell, Kamaza?!?! I almost kissed your crouch!" Hwoarang thundered as he pulled himself off the ground. Jin, meanwhile was still crawling backwards slowly in a shaken state. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Jin cut himself when he felt his back bump against something. He whipped around to see that he had backed up across the room to a gaming machine. The Japanese eyes' darted to his left and right, looking for the fastest escape. Jin attempted to turn over and get to his knees, but before he could do anything the Korean sneaked up between his legs and slammed his hands against the machine so that Jin was pinned between the two. 

"Dammit, Jin! Quit making this so difficult!" Hwoarang said, trying to shout quietly. The Japanese squirmed underneath Hwoarang and turned his face away from the Korean. Jin gritted his teeth together and winced as he closed his eyes from the world. This wasn't what he wanted, he didn't Hwoarang to think of this as "just a kiss", but Jin couldn't bring himself to say it no matter how hard he tried. All Jin could think of to do was hide from everything and tried to by burying his burning face into his shoulder. Hwoarang sighed harshly at the sight of the Japanese and whipped Jin's face right into his hand, forcing the Japanese to look him in the eye. The Korean waited, holding the Japanese's chin in his hand until he was finally greeted with those deep, dark eyes. The look in Hwoarang's eyes was different from before, if Jin didn't know any better, he would say that… Hwoarang was serious about this. The same determination the Japanese saw when they first fought. Maybe this was a battle for them, a challenge for them to acknowledge their feelings for one another… but as before, Jin would not make the first move… Hwoarang was going and would always make the first step. 

The instant Jin saw the Korean move in once again, he calmly closed his eyes and breathed one more breath before he felt the Korean's soft, warm lips on his. The Japanese could feel his body burn with a new sensation, he felt like he was throbbing all over. His stomach raged with butterflies that burned into his sides as Hwoarang slid his knee closer to Jin's crouch. The Korean loosened his grip on the Japanese face and brushed his hand lightly against the Japanese's soft face before slipping his fingers through his hair. A slight creak came from Hwoarang's leather pants as he pressed harder against Jin lips, delicately pushing the Japanese against the board. Jin could feel the Korean's breath as he gracefully pushed his mouth open a little more as the Korean's kisses grew fiercer. The Japanese began to natural move his smooth, wet lips to the rhythm that Hwoarang provide and started to taste more and more of the Korean. Hwoarang felt himself growing hard as he savored the Japanese eager lips, gasping quietly at every moment he felt his member throbbed painfully. The Korean pushed his leg hard against Kazama and glided his knee up and over the Japanese warm crouch, making Jin gasped. The Korean seized the opportunity and slipped his tongue lightly into the Japanese's mouth, teasing Jin with dabbing kisses from his hot, moist tongue. Jin felt the Korean's tongue enter his mouth and greeted it by gently sucking on it. The Japanese was overcome with instinct and gripped the Korean by his arms, tightening his hold every time the Korean brushed himself against the throbbing Japanese. Hwoarang took one last taste, licking and lightly tracing Jin's silkly, trembling lips before tearing himself away. A small a trace of saliva tried to remain with the Japanese as Hwoarang pulled a half an arms' length away. It felt like Hwoarang had only a glimpse of what the Japanese tasted like and he wanted more. His mind savored those moments that parts of him traveled along the Japanese anxious and welcoming body. It took a great deal of will power of restraining himself from pulling the Japanese to the floor and exploring every part of his rich, warm-toned body. The Korean exhaled a groan and watched as Jin tried to recover from the flush of emotions and fervent passion. The Japanese laid limp, trying to recover with every shuttered gasp and trying to calm the pounding of his heart. Jin was in a new world. Hwoarang could sense Jin's exhaustion and traced the Japanese cheek with thumb as he leaned close. 

"Jin…" The Japanese unconsciously glanced up at the mention of his name, still in a daze. Jin saw Hwoarang was looking over him with a warm smile and the most tender, pure eyes he had ever seen. And his smile, was so sincere… it made Jin even more dizzy. 

All of a sudden a flash of light blinded them which was followed by curses. 

"Damn, piece of- I told you no flash!!" Ling said, reprimanding her camera. Hwoarang was on his feet in no time, facing the Chinese girl with his feet apart, head hung low, hiding his face and his arms dangling at his side as if he was a possessed monster. He was pissed. Not only did she took advantage of situation, she ruined the moment. The Korean was more angry that she interrupted them, he could have stood there, gazing forever at the blushing Japanese, but no… this girl, this bitch had to put an end to that and Hwoarang was going to KICK HER ASS. 

"Uh, Hwoarangy?" Ling asked nervously, noticing the strange demonic look in his eye. 

"LINGGGGGGGG…" He replied back in a long, drown out growl. As soon as Ling started running, Hwoarang was on her ass like white on rice, tearing and clawing at just an hand's reach away. 

Jin laughed softhearted, clutching the burning butterflies in his stomach and regained his breath slowly, but surely. He smiled to himself as he heard the two running around the arcade and finally opened his eyes, seeing the world in a whole different light. 


	7. The And

_Author: Jiji Kero_

_Warnings: Profanity, Sexual Innuendo, Sexual Situations-Shounen Ai, Alcohol_

_Couples: Ling x Jin/Hwoarang (friendship wise), Jin x Hwoarang (Shounen-Ai)_

_Author's Notes: The End of Innocence…_

"The And" 

                "My God, Ling, I didn't think you still had these pictures!" The Korean said with a laugh as he shuffled through the pictures carefully. 

                "What? You think I would throw them away? I keep everything about my bishounen!" Ling said, twittering away at the other end of the phone, "Besides, we promised that all of us would be always together forever, remember?" Hwoarang's breathing stopped at those words, and his eyes drifted to the concrete floor... he couldn't think of anything to say...

                "Hwoarang?" The soft voice asked, mixed with concern and worry, "... What's wrong?" The Korean remained in silence, thumbing through the pictures slowly, watching the photographs coming to life as he tried to refrain himself from remembering every passion, scent, and texture he felt that time... But with every new picture he saw, a familiar emotion, feeling grew inside of him. He stopped at the photograph... of when the Japanese and himself were engaged so deeply with each other. As he thought more about that day, it seemed that in that very moment, their two souls intertwined into one. The Korean lightly gazed his thumb over Jin's face, feeling that same delicate skin he loved so much.

                "Together... forever, huh?"

                A black, sleek limousine traveled along the smooth paved path etched into mountain's side. The sun was beginning to end it's journey in the sky as it settled above the horizon. Dark, ominous cloud quickly gathered together to cover the sky with a blanket of shadows. The ebony limo wove its way through the forest, seeking the end of the road while it's passengers remained quiet and civil in their metal cage... or so they thought.

                In the metal beast sat two young boys with a lazy girl stretched out like a cat, bathing in the sun. The boys snickered to themselves, grinning evilly at their defenseless perpetuator.

                "You almost done there, Jin?" Hwoarang said chuckling through his words, while he remained fumbling underneath the girl's plaid skirt. Jin gave a bright smile and pulled the Chinese girl's buttoned up blouse over her chest.

                "Finished!" The Japanese stated proudly, placing the cap over his huge black marker. Hwoarang's smirk stretched to the edge of his face at those words and continued to doodle on the girl's inner thighs.

                "I'm almost done with her and.… " The Korean retracted the nib of the pen and tossed it on the other side of car, "And I will never end up in a girl's skirt again!" Hwoarang collapsed against the leather seat and rested his head tiredly.

                "I don't think I ever had my head between a girl's legs for such a long, frickin' time." Hwoarang exclaimed, closing his eyes as he leaned his head back at the top of the seat. Jin slightly blushed at that comment as his eyes shifted across the car. Hwoarang sensed the Japanese's discomfort and peered open his eyes slowly at the roof. The Korean didn't budge from his spot, his eyes remained slightly opening, gazing slyly, yet longingly at the Japanese. Jin felt Hwoarang's eyes watching his every movement and shuffled shyly. The Korean knew Jin was aware, but he waited for the Japanese to look up at him. Once Jin glanced up directly to Hwoarang, showing his uneasiness, the Korean just smiled slyly and closed his eyes once again.

                "Don't worry about it, I've never been with a girl." Hwoarang said softly, reassuring the distress Japanese. At that moment, the dividing window rolled down to reveal the driver.

                "Sir, we have just passed through the entrance gates." Jin nodded politely and the chauffeur rolled the window up.

                "Well, we should wake her up." The Japanese said, scratching at his head as he looked at the deadweight of the girl in their laps. 

                "No problem." Hwoarang stated and shoved the heavy girl onto the floor. The Japanese gasped as Ling rolled off the boys and collided with the floor with a thud. She was awake the very instant it happened.

                "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!?!?" The Chinese girl roared into the Korean's face. Hwoarang just yawned and reclined against the leather seat with his side, as if he was going to sleep. But the Chinese girl wouldn't have that and grabbed his ear, yanking and twisting it to her direction. Hwoarang groaned with every tug she made and tried to struggle out of it, but her grip was too great.

                "Da, da, daa, daaa, yamero!" _(~, stop it!)_ The Korean yelled, grabbing her wrist tightly.

                "Are you going to be a good boy?" Ling asked, slightly turning his ear a little more.

                "Arrrhhhh! Yes!" The Korean was finally able to manage to squeeze out between his teeth. Ling gave one more tug at his ear, waiting to hear

                "Yes, what?!" She demanded violently.

                "YESSS.." The Korean grunted as he sunk a new low with the words that would be coming out of his mouth, "HIME-SAMA!" _(PRINCESS!)_ Hwoarang growled as he pulled his ear out of her hand and covered it defensively. Jin placed a hand on the Korean's shoulder and moved closer to him.

                "Are you all right-" As soon as Jin nearly finished his sentence, Ling cut him off.

                "Oh, by the way, Jinny, I'm going to need some help carry my purse, backpack, and bags. You will help out, won't you?" The dominating girl asked turning her head up in the air as a proud stallion. Jin laughed uneasily and tried to shrug it off.

                "So desu yo!" _(Of course!)_ Jin replied cheerfully. Ling slammed her fists on his thighs and glared angrily into his eyes.

                "Nani so desu yo!?!" _(Of course, what?!!)_She growled with her clenched teeth and lowered lip.

                "SO DESU YO, RIN-SAMA!!" _(OF COURSE, LORD LING!)_ The Japanese cried, trying to sound happily. 

                "Chotto matte!" _(Now just a minute!)_ The Korean said, pulling Ling off of Jin.

                "Nani o shiteru!?!" _(What the hell are you doing?!!)_ He exclaimed, locking her wrists together in the grip of his right hand, "Jin wa kimi no dorei-nai!!" _(Jin is not your slave!!)_

                "Ha! Iie! Anata to Jin wa watashi no bichu desu!" _(Ha! No! You and Jin are my bitches!!) Ling said, laughing as she shook her pigtails wildly, nearly flapping Hwoarang in the face._

"Don't make me kick your ass!" The Korean replied, yanking the girl into his face at that comment and growled, baring his teeth at his challenger.

                "Oh, please! Like you'd ever hurt a girl! What would your mother say?!" Ling said, teasingly.

                "Leave my mother out of this!" Hwoarang snapped back.

                "Now, Hwoarang! It's all right!" The Japanese interjected and smiled warmly, "I don't mind carrying her things." The sincere look the Japanese gave to Hwoarang nearly made him his heart race. The Korean quickly glanced away with rose blushed cheeks with his eyebrows arched downwards.

                "You're such a push over, Jin." The Korean uttered, still looking away with his eyes closed off from them. Jin laughed softly to himself and sighed with content at the embarrassed Korean.

                "Maybe, but there's less trouble when I go along with it. It only creates more trouble if you fight it." The Japanese said, slightly bracing himself on the armrest while the vehicle started coming to stop.

                "Sounds like _some_ people we know, huh, Jinny?" The bouncing girl taunted as she stuck out her tongue and pulled down her lower eyelid.

                "LING!" The Korean thundered, reaching for the little runt. Ling just crackled at his feeble attempt and swung the door open while it was still moving, hopping gracefully out of the car. Hwoarang growled as he struggled to crawl out of the car and jumped onto the pavement with a slid. The perky kid just giggled, which ceased when she saw the Mishima family's bathhouse.

                In the middle of this luscious, green forest, laid something like a Japanese Temple. It had the same structure as a temple with white walls, many gray tiered roofs, but there was a stone wall surrounding it. As Ling squinted her eyes to inspect closer, she realized there were ornamental statues at the edges of each tiered roof. The girl blinked even more when she realized she was just staring at the grand gate for the bathhouse. As Ling continued to study the structure, Jin had just stepped out of the stopped vehicle, holding a purse and a backpack.

                "Okay, are we staying at a bathhouse or a pagoda?" Ling said with a raised eyebrow.

                "Grandfather's architects got carried away." The Japanese replied with smile and a shrug of the shoulders. Ling sighed with a scoff and walked over to limousine. 

                "Your family sure likes to flaunt their stuff, while the rest us are the ones working hard on it." She stated with her arms wrapped behind her back. The poor Japanese's shoulders drooped at those words.

                "I can't help it if my family's well-off, Ling!" Jin tried to say in defense. 

                "That's an understatement," The Chinese said, rolling her eyes as she passed by Hwoarang who was still glaring at her, "Oh, speaking of workers, _Hwoarang!" _

                "WHAT?" The Korean demanded with his arms folded across his chest. Ling just made a smile as she faced him and waved her hand as if she was saying hello.

                "Be a gentlemen and get my things." And with that, she whipped around and continued to walk towards the entrance.

                "NO." Hwoarang said bluntly. All of sudden, Ling stopped in her tracks and her hands balled up into fists, growling. But then a lightning bolt of an idea came into her mind. She twirled around on her right foot and started patting her bra.

                "Gasp! What's this?!" She exclaimed as she pulled a picture out of her laced underwear and held it up in the sky,  "Why it's a picture of you and Jin having fun at the arcade! I wonder much this would sell for on eBay." The Korean raised his hands in frustration and grabbed his hair, yanking at you.

                "One of these days, Ling. One of these days, karma's gonna come back and kick you in the ass!" Hwoarang yelled with a pointed finger and stormed over to the trunk of limousine.

                "And then karma's gonna remember that-" Ling tried to reply, before Jin came behind her and covered her mouth.

                "Now, now, children, let's all get along!" The Japanese said with a forced, uneasy laugh, but the Korean just grunted irritably as he smash kick the trunk open. Hwoarang glanced inside, but quickly slammed the trunk closed, or at least tried to close the damaged trunk.

                "What's wrong?" Jin said with a blink.

                "I AM NOT CARRYING YOUR BAGS." Hwoarang looked dead serious too, but all Ling had to do was wave the picture around before the Korean was forcing himself to open the trunk.

                "If you need help some, Hwoarang-" Jin offered, which was quickly accepted.

                "THAT'D BE GREAT, JIN!" Hwoarang said happily with great enthusiasm. The Japanese walked over to Hwoarang with a bright smile and took a look inside.

                "Why don't I just let you have this one to yourself and I'll go open the gates!" The Japanese suggested as he quickened his walking pace towards the grand gate with a sweat drop at the side of his face. Hwoarang's head sunk as he proceeded gather all of Ling's belongings in one trip to her room. After much shuffling and organizing, the Korean pulled himself out of the trunk, decorated with luggage. He was holding 2 handbags on each of his arms, another handbag around his shoulder, and four of the heaviest, largest suitcases he had ever carried in his hands. Hwoarang actually couldn't be seen from the front view because the suitcases went a good two, three feet over his head. When the Korean finally turned to his side to see Ling, she burst out laughing. Here was this hot orange haired Korean, wearing a black wife-beater with safety pins along the seams of the shirt and gray cargo pants covered in zippers and pockets… carrying the Hot Pink Hello Kitty Luggage Set. Hwoarang was growling underneath his breath, but was interrupted by a sudden flash of light.

                _SHE DIDN'T, the Korean thought to himself. When his eyes finally adjusted, he saw Ling with that goddamn camera._

                "Tee-hee! Hwoarang's not only gay, HE'S SUPER GAY!" Ling blurted out as she twirled her purse around her finger.

                "Shut up!" The Korean roared as he walked towards the gate, "Being gay, and having your masculinity threatened are two different things!"

                "You keep telling yourself that." Ling said as she hopped along beside him. The Korean stormed even faster towards the entrance hoping to get away from his torturer, but the little Hello Kitty freak kept up with his pace. Hwoarang tried to sigh calmly and continued walking while Ling hummed. It wasn't long before he realized she was humming the Hello Kitty theme.

"_Or climbing a mountain of ice cream and candy, having a friend like you comes in handy!" Ling emphasized, clinging to Hwoarang's arm. The Korean just drew out a sigh and resumed walking._

"Hwoarang…? Is that you under there?" Jin's voice asked that somehow traveled over the mountain of luggage.

"Yeah… sadly." Hwoarang replied, listening to the Japanese chuckling to himself.

"Do want me to get your things?" 

"Yeah, that'd be great. It's just a black duffel bag." The Korean turned to his side for a better view of where he was going to walking and saw the ever pleasant Japanese smiling at him.

"All right, I already turned off the alarm system so go ahead and get settled into your rooms," the Japanese explained as he passed by them.

"Oh, and you have a lot to choose from!" Jin added with a holler. Ling glanced around the dark, solid walls of the entrance and saw a long hallway that lead to the bathhouse. The Chinese girl slipped from the Korean arms and started strolling to the end of the hallway, humming the sadistic song of Hello Kitty. Once she hopped to the other side of entrance and saw the jungle like hot springs, she gave a cheerful shout.

"OH, YEAH!!!" She cheered, clenching her fists together. The entire place was a replica of beautiful, tropical jungle. . Enormous trees hovered over the entire place, leaning from outside of the stone walls. The walls were made of coarse, gray rocks, covering in voluptuous green vines and exotic colorful flowers. Even the black, granite tiles enhanced the environment. Luscious plant life crawled across the red tiered roofs of the buildings. Water sprouted from the walls, creating a waterfalls over the rocks it crossed over as it made it's way to the hot springs pools. Lily pads and other water greenery lived in the corners of the pools.

Ling struggled, trying to figure out which pool she wanted to try first. There was a large pool that resided at the northeastern walls and there were two other ones below it. One that was placed on the right, which seemed to be a lap lane and the other one was the size of a spa that rested on the left, next to the eastern wall. While the girl contemplated to herself, Hwoarang who was lagging behind finally caught up to her. He couldn't see a damn thing, but did feel the intense humidity filled in this place.

"Did we walk into the Amazon Forest or what?" Hwoarang asked, still buried underneath Ling's luggage. 

"Oh, right!" Ling said, remembering her luggage and glanced around for a building that resembled a guesthouse. The Chinese girl immediately spotted one on her right and noticed a huge tree covering up nearly three-fourths of the building. Ling inspected more carefully and realized that the tree was actually from outside the wall that had collapsed on the building. At that moment, Jin came up behind them, holding Hwoarang's black bag in his hand.

"So, what do you guys think?" Jin asked, not noticing the huge tree that crashed on the guesthouse.

"I know you Mishima guys like to make things extravagant, but isn't that a bit much?" Ling asked, pointing to the crumbled building. Jin blinked a few blinks and saw what Ling was talking. After Japanese stood there, gaping for a few seconds, he managed some words.

"I've got to call, grandfather!" Jin cried.

"Call him for what?" Hwoarang's voice mumbled passed the suitcases. When Hwoarang didn't get a reply, he simply turned to his left to get a better view.

"Oh." The Korean said, answering his own question. Jin shook his head several times and darted towards another building. Before a few seconds passed, the Japanese popped behind from the wall.

"Go ahead and choose your rooms… well, ones that don't look like they're going to collapse." And with that, the Japanese disappeared around the corner. Ling and Hwoarang stared at each other… then at the guesthouse. They looked at the top floor, which was completely gone except for one room, but even some of the walls on that one had crumbled. The only rooms that were left were the two on the bottom floor, which were untouched by the massive tree on the left.

"… I've got the room on the right." Ling stated, leaving Hwoarang and Jin with the room closest to the tree.

"Thanks, Ling." Hwoarang replied sarcastically and walked to the door of Ling's room. The Korean looked at the shoji screen and slide it open with his foot carefully before throwing all of Ling's luggage into her room.

"Hey!!!" The Chinese girl ran over to her room and saw her luggage cluttered on the floor, some popped open with her things scattered around the tatami mat. She glared at Hwoarang for a few seconds who returned the look. She gritted her teeth at the Korean then kicked him in the shin and ran into her room, sliding the door shut.

"You little brat!" The Korean grunted as he rubbed his shin. Another cry of distress filled the air as Jin came dashing towards them.

                The phones are disconnected and there's no food! No bath towels or any towels for that matter!!" the Japanese cried to Hwoarang. Ling's door flew open at Jin's report and she stood in the doorway with her hand on the wall.

                "What's the problem?" The girl growled.

                "There's absolutely nothing here!" The Japanese wailed once again. Ling sighed with disgust.

                "So?! Why don't you get your chauffeur to get you the things you need like you always do?!" The Chinese thundered, waving her free hand around.

                "Because I sent him home and he won't be back until tomorrow noon!" Jin sobbed, covering his face.

                "You did bring some clothes or towels or something didn't you?" Ling asked, blinking a few times in irritation. The Japanese's eyes shifted around, before staring at the floor.

                "…No…" Jin replied, slightly scared.

                "WHAT?!" Ling roared, stomping up to him.

                "I thought everything I need would be here!" Jin tried to say in his defense, cowering at the madwoman. Ling let out a groan and turned to the Korean.

                "Hwoarangy! Please tell me you have something!" She demanded with her directed finger. Hwoarang's eyes shifted to the left, to the right… to the left... then to the right.

                "I brought a clean pair of clothes…" He finally answered.

                "And towels?" Ling asked, taking one step closer to him.

                "I thought they would have towels here! A bathhouse should have towels!" The Korean screamed in frustration.

                "OH, MY GOD!! NO WONDER GOD MADE WOMEN BECAUSE IF HE DIDN'T, YOU GUYS WOULD HAVE DIED ON THE SECOND DAY!!!!" The Chinese girl exclaimed as she smacked her forehead.

                "Oh, what?! Were _you_ expecting this?!" The Korean growled back. Ling's eyes narrowed at her attacker before she stormed into her room. A few seconds later, a suitcase slammed into Jin who barely caught it. The Japanese raised an eyebrow as he clicked the lock off, which sprung the suitcase open. Hwoarang glanced inside to see an entire suitcase filled food. Chinese Fried Rice, Japanese White Rice, Steams Buns, Fried Dumplings, Rice Balls, and many more were stored in plastic containers which was kept warm from a tiny portable heater in the suitcase.

                "How did you-" Hwoarang glanced up, about to ask Ling a question who was holding up one more opened suitcase filled with Japanese Snacks & Drinks like Melty Kiss, Pocky, Gummi, Yan-Yans, Ramune, Jelly Cups, Koala Cookies, Soft Cake and all the colors of the rainbow.

                "Mommy said always be prepared!" Ling said with a bright grin as she placed the suitcase down. 

                "I was carrying your food this entire time?!" Hwoarang cried, glaring at the several six packs of the Ramune soda.

                "Uh-uh-uh! Our food!" Ling said shaking her finger. She peered around the mountain of her of luggage and fished around for one of her handbags, judging the one she wanted by its weight. Once she found the one she was looking for, she lifted up carefully and walked over to Hwoarang.

                "And I think you'll especially like this!" She said with a cackle, holding out the pink Hello Kitty handbag. Hwoarang arched an eyebrow at it before pulling the strap around his shoulder as his hands fumbled to flip the flap open. The Korean glanced around inside and pulled out a thick bundling of clothing. Unraveling it cautiously, the fabric peeled off exposed a sake bottle.

                "Ling… did I ever tell how much I love you?" The Korean said, gazing lovingly at the bottle labeled Kira. Jin gave the bottle a curious eye.

                "Is that... alcohol?" The Japanese asked with a worry. A grin slipped across Hwoarang's face as he placed a hand on Jin's shoulder.

                "Ever had some?" Jin's eyes grew wide and tried to force a smile.

                "Uh, no…" The Japanese stammered and looked to Ling for some support or guidance, but she just gave a cheesy grin and slid her door shut. The Japanese chirped a low squeak at his abandonment and gripped the suitcase even harder. Hwoarang's hand slipped off the Japanese shoulder, tracing his finger along the Japanese's tender back. The Korean hands lightly tickled the Japanese's spine and gripped his neck lightly as the Korean moved in close enough for the Japanese to feel his breath on his ear.

                "I certainly love to take away your virginity, don't I?" The Korean whispered softly against the Japanese's ear. At the mention of the word "virgin", Jin dropped the suitcase, sending tupperware flying across the floor. 

                "Iwouldactuallyliketokeepmyvirginity,reallyIwould!" Jin quickly blurted out, taking one step back with his hands raised in defense. Hwoarang burst out laughing and sighed contently.

                "I'm just messing with you, Jin! I'm not planning to take your virginity." -_Anytime soon, the Korean added in his mind._

                _"Not unless you want him to!" Ling hollered from other side, which automatically made Jin blush. Hwoarang laughed a sigh and gazed serenely at the Japanese._

                "Look, if you don't want to drink, it's all right. It's no problem, it's just that Ling and I all want the three of us to be on the same level of incoherency," The Korean said with a laugh, "Besides we won't let things get out of hand and if it does, we'll call it a night." Jin looked at Hwoarang then at the bottle and stared off to the side as he thought about it. A tender hand was held out to the Japanese and was also greeted by the Korean's warm smile.

                "Do you trust me?" Jin stared intently at the gestured hand, the same hand that had caressed his cheek. A sigh escaped from the Japanese mouth as he closed his eyes dreamily. How could he not trust him? With that in mind, he reached for the Korean's hand and gently embraced it. The Korean flashed a smile and yanked the Japanese into his arms, nuzzling his forehead softly against Jin. 

Their tender moment ended abruptly when a hand ripped through the shoji paper and tore the door open, sending it sliding off its tracks. In the doorway stood the Chinese girl, holding a bundle of towels in one hand and… wearing nothing, but her white, lacy underwear. At this point Ling, didn't care that she was naked in front of the boys, she was more "preoccupied" with the writings she had found on her body when she changing. The writing that stood out the most was the "OPEN 24 HRS." which was scribed on her stomach and had an arrow pointing downwards to her panty. The words, "Free First Trial" that were written on her inner thigh were also irritating. Hwoarang just eyed the enraged girl curiously before speaking.

"Victoria Secret Spring Catalog, Page 36?" The Korean asked with a quizzical eyebrow. His face was quickly greeted by a mass of towels.

"KAR-MA." The doodled girl said plainly and with that, she swiftly returned to her room. Hwoarang just shrugged and pulled the towels off his head. When the Korean tossed a towel, he noticed the towel was quite… small. Jin held the towel at full length and whimpered at the size of it as he placed it in front of his private area.

"LING!!! What the hell?! These will barely cover our asses!" The Korean roared as he glared from behind the doorway. A ramune soda bottle whipped right through the doorway, almost nicking Hwoarang before it smashed against a rock.

**"KARMA!!!" The girl screamed psychotically. Jin and Hwoarang exchanged a few looks then glanced down at their towels.**

"These will be fine!" The Japanese said in a merry voice as he walked to the next room. The Korean uttered a low growl and pulled his shirt over his head as Jin stepped into their room. As the red head gripped the towel tightly in one hand, he began unbuckling and unzipping away at his jiggling pants.

"Fine my ass!" Hwoarang yelled through the shoji wall while hopping around, trying to get out of his pants.

"If you go and see something **_dangling_**, don't say I didn't warn you!" The Korean snarled, quickly wrapping the towel around his waist. Shortly after Hwoarang had… dressed, he was quickly joined by a near naked Jin whose "basement" was only covered by a small white towel.

"You look… good." The Japanese commented with lightly rose colored cheeks. Hwoarang laughed a little and sighed.

"Yeah, just reminded me not to bend over." The Korean stated, scratching at his head.

"Or to pick up the soap!" Ling said, hopping out of her room wearing a long towel and a cat grin. The grin disappeared in a microsecond though, when she saw her two bishounen. The towels she had provided them barely went halfway between their knees and hips, which revealed more of their firm thighs. Their bodies were sleek from the humidity in the air, dripping sweat over their hard muscles and from their lightly damp hair. The fading light from the setting sun made their hot bodies glisten gold, enwrapping with the dark shadows developed by their slick skin. 

"Karma's a beautiful thing!" Ling said with sparkles in her eyes, holding the camcorder in her hand and another hand held bag in the other. The Korean sighed as he rolled his eyes and started walking towards the hot springs with his favorite handbag tucked underneath his arm.

"All right, Ling, we're gonna play karma they way it was meant to be played," the Korean said as he paused for a moment, waiting for Jin to catch up with him.

"Ha, bring it on! Karma will always side with me!" The girl replied confidently, walking by her rival. When Jin saw that Hwoarang was waiting for him, a mellow smile came across his face. Once Hwoarang was within arms reach of Jin, he began walking again. Jin meekly followed the Korean until he gathered enough courage and slipped his hand into Hwoarang's. A soft chuckled could be heard from the Korean as he lightly squeezed Jin's hand and pulled him gently next to him.

"So, how about it? Ready to play a game of _I Have, I Have Not_?" The Korean asked, pulling his hand out of Jin's grasp and wrapping it around the Japanese's broad shoulder. Jin blinked a few times, glancing up at the handsome Korean.

"I Have, I Have Not?"

"It's a drinking game. Basically, one person goes at a time. He or she says something that they _have done and if the rest of people who are playing _haven't _done that, they take a shot. Or they can say I _haven't_ done something and those who _have_ take a shot. Then they usually tell the story of when, where they have or haven't." The Japanese thought about it and lightly placed his hand around the Korean's hip._

"It sounds interesting." Jin wasn't quite sure what to think about it. The Korean grew a playful grin and lightly embraced his broad shoulders.

"Wait until you play it!" The Korean said, nuzzling his forehead against the Japanese. 

"What are you two girls whispering about?!" Ling shouted with her hands on her hips as she loomed over the smallest hot spring that was more like a Jacuzzi. 

"Girly stuff!" Hwoarang replied with a laugh. Ling gave a mischievous grin and hopped into hot spring, snuggling into a comfy spot. 

"Ta-Da! Tonight's party will be held in this spa wanna-be thing!" She declared, switching her camera on. 

"Oh, yay! We're all gonna get it on camera." The Korean said with a fake enthusiasm as he stepped into the spa, carefully making sure he wasn't going to flash Jin or Ling… especially Ling. Jin followed Hwoarang closely by and made his way into the hot spring as well.

"Ahem! Okay, who's going first?" The girl asked as she started pulling glasses out of her small bag, handing a bottle opener to Hwoarang.

"That would be me!" Hwoarang exclaimed, popping the sake bottle open as soon as the opener was in his grasp. Ling started giggling like a schoolgirl and handed Hwoarang two glasses. All eyes were on Hwoarang as he poured the liquid halfway full in each glass. These were rather large glasses, Hwoarang was probably pouring about the equivalent of two shots, but he wasn't too worried. They were drinking hard liquor after all.

"Ling, I need your cup." Hwoarang said, waving the sake bottle.

"I don't want that Kira crap!" The Chinese girl retorted.

"We're not going to open another bottle because you're picky!" The Korean cried, slamming the bottle on the edge of spa.

"Yes, we are! And besides I bet Jin will like Ozeki Nigori better than Kira!" Ling voiced, looking directly at the Japanese.

"Oh, yeah?!" The Korean growled back.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to try both." Jin said, finally managing to speak up. The Korean let out a long sigh and fiddled around in the handbag looking for her special sake. Once he found it, Ling held out her glass joyfully.

"Just because of that, you're going to drink up." The Korean declared, opening the other sake bottle.

"Only if I have or have not!" The perky girl stated as her drink was being poured.

"All right!" The Korean said, reclining back into the sloped seat. He gave Jin a wink before he glared evilly at the finicky girl.

"I have had sex." The Korean stated. Ling eyes grew wide in realization that she was gonna have to drink up.

"DAMN IT!" The Chinese cussed to herself as she slammed her drink. Hwoarang crackled happily and glanced over at Japanese… who was having a stare down with his sake.

"I'm sorry, Jin, but you're gonna have to drink it." Hwoarang commented, giving Jin a pat on the back. The Japanese took a deep breath and swallowed the whole thing in one gulp. As soon as that sake hit Jin's throat, he was making a dry gagging sound. 

"Am I the only man in this hot tub!?" Hwoarang cried, slapping his forehead. Ling crawled over to the choking man, snagging away her prized sake form the Korean.

"Here, Jin! This is a lot better than that crap." She said as she poured the Ozeki Nigori into his glass. The Japanese let out a whimpering groan while he watched Ling pour the burning liquid into his cup. The Korean moved closer to the traumatized man and lightly massaged the Japanese's neck. 

"You did good, bad… but good." Hwoarang said with a soft chuckle, nuzzling against the nape of the Japanese neck, trying to get a giggle out of him. The Japanese laughed as Hwoarang cuddling on his shoulder like a cat purring for affection. Once Hwoarang saw the smile on his companion, the Korean laid his head on Jin's shoulder.

 "Okay, who goes next?" Hwoarang asked curiously.

"How about Jin goes so we're going in a clockwise circle?" Ling said, holding a finger in air.

"Sounds good to me!" The Korean replied, giving the Japanese a nudge with his knee. As the Japanese went into deep thought, Ling whipped the camcorder back into her hand and focused on Jin.

"Okay… I have…" The Japanese trailed off trying to think of the perfect statement then looked at Ling… and found it, "…Kissed a member of the same sex!" Ling stared at Jin for a few seconds behind her camera before releasing the right response for the situation.

"You bastard!!" She yelled, pouting as she poured her drink.

"Yeah, drink your medicine!" The Korean taunted as she downed her drink once again.

"Oh, you want medicine?! I'll give you medicine!" The girl growled as she rummaged around in her handbag before pulling out a huge clear bottle written in Katakana (Japanese Alphabet used for Foreign Words).

"What the hell is that, Ling?" The Korean demanded to know as she uncapped it and dripped it into Hwoarang's glass, making it three quarters full.

"Something someone as twisted as you would love." The girl snarled. 

"Oh! Sounds good already." The Korean pulled the drink underneath his nose and took a sniff. He quickly shook his head when the vapor of the liquid attacked his nostrils. Jin could see Hwoarang perfectly mouth the words of "What the fuck?!" as he looked at the alcohol puzzled.

"All right! My turn! And I have been a virgin for over 16 years!" The Chinese girl declared proudly as if a bright, neon light was blinking "Virgin" above her head. The Korean snorted a chuckle.

"Well, that's not me!" Hwoarang said between his laughter. The Korean tossed his back, letting the alcohol stream down his throat. All of sudden, a sharp, flaming feeling ripped through the Korean's body as if he could feel the alcohol making it's way down to his stomach. In another second, his breath was taken away from him, but he was determined to finish this drink in one gulp before anything else. Once the alcohol scorched it's way down to his stomach he pulled himself forward, feeling the blazing liquid ripple through his circulatory system. Once that feeling had left his body, he finally remembered to breath and took a deep gasp of the air.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU GIVE ME?" The Korean demanded to know, still trying to remember the idea of breathing.

"Something that will get you drunk _really _fast!" The girl said, being quite vague as she poured the same toxic liquid and her sake into Hwoarang's drink. The Korean stared in disgust at the alcohol and tried to the shake the feeling it gave him. Whatever it was, this shit could knock him on his ass in three more drinks if he wasn't careful. Hwoarang was going to have to avoid drinking, which he didn't like to do, but he wanted to be able to take care of Jin. That wasn't going to happen if Hwoarang was passed out on the floor. The Korean's thoughts were disrupted by the Japanese timid voice.

"Um, if you weren't a virgin when you were 16… How old were you when you… lost it?" Jin asked softly. Hwoarang sighed, turning his away from his friends. He wasn't stupid, he knew whatever answer he gave was still going bother Jin. If it had been Ling, he even think about telling her, but… this was Jin and the one thing Hwoarang did not want to do was to start the relationship with a lie. The phrase _caught between a rock and hard place_ had a whole new meaning for the Korean. After some pondering, the Korean finally decided to tell the truth.

"… …12." Both Ling and Jin nearly dropped their drinks in the water.

"WHAT?!?! What and why were doing such a thing at such an age?!" The Chinese girl said, storming into the Korean's face.

"That's none of your business." Hwoarang said coldly.

"Well, I'm making it my business!" Ling growled.

**"I'm.Not.Telling.You." Ling saw something in the Korean's eye that she had never seen before. There was something mysterious… and dark… something very dark deep within the soul of his eyes that actually scared her a little. Ling backed off silently, without any questions. She stared blankly for a while until she forced herself to return back into her normal the perky, yaoi obsessed girl she was.**

"Uhhh, well, it's your turn Hwoarang!" The Korean just stared absently, looking at nothing as her words sunk into his head. That was first time in a while she had called him by his real name. 

_Perhaps, it would be best to play along… the Korean thought to himself as he glanced over at Jin. The Japanese was obviously lost in his thoughts._

"That's right, huh?" The Korean said with a forced smile. He tossed his feet on the edge of the spa as he considered his next statement.

"I haven't received any grade below an A in my entire life!" The Korean proclaimed. Jin raised an eyebrow at that, but Ling would be the first to voice her opinion.

"That's a load of crap!!!" The girl cried in disbelief. 

"You can check all of my transcripts, I've never gotten a B or anything below that." Hwoarang stated confidently. The Japanese let out a sigh and held the glass firmly in his hands, getting ready to drink it.

"Now wait a minute, Jin! You're not gonna actually believe him are you?!" Ling said, climbing into Jin's face.

"I don't think he was Salutatorian for nothing." Jin replied with a bright smile… the alcohol was starting to work on him. Meanwhile, Hwoarang was eyeing Ling suspiciously.

"You told him, didn't you?" The Korean said, tapping his fingers on a hard surface.

"No…" Ling eyes shifted around the place, looking for a place to hide. Hwoarang just grunted and tossed his hand in the air.

"Drink up!" The Korean demanded with arched eyebrows. Ling stuck her tongue at the Korean and slammed her third drink for the night in less than two seconds. Jin, however, carefully took a small sip, to get a taste of what he would be dealing with.

"Wow, this actually tastes good!" The Japanese said in amazement. 

"You damn people and your damn sissy sake!" The Korean scoffed.

"It's not sissy sake! It's a dessert sake! That's like saying you don't like cheesecake!" Ling retorted. 

"Whatever, hand me your glass." The Korean demanded. The delirious Ling handed over her glass without giving a second thought, she was still try to shake off the surge she had gotten from her sake. Hwoarang grinned at the mind-slipping girl and quickly poured in her evil elixir. The Korean glanced up to see the girl staring off into the starry sky and seized that opportunity to snag her Ozenki Nigori. As the Korean filled her glass up with her sake, he kept a watchful eye on the Japanese who was drinking slowly.

"How are you doing over there?" Hwoarang asked. 

"Mmm-kay, is all right if I take my time with finishing this? I'll make sure it's gone when it's my turn to drink again." The Japanese asked shyly, slightly nibbling on the edge of his cup.

"Sure, there's no need for you to be a drunk like this _one_ over here." The Korean said, eyeing the drunkard as he filled her glass to the top.

"I'm not a drunk!" The Chinese girl blabbered, pulling her head forward.

"I said Jin's a hunk!" Hwoarang retorted.

"Oh, whoops! My bad!" Ling said, snorting giggles while her head rolled around in a complete circle. 

"Here." The Korean said as he pulled up Ling's hand and placed her drink in it. Hwoarang sighed as he plopped down next to Jin and leaned against the Japanese's shoulder.

"Well, it's your turn, Jin." The Korean said laying his head on Jin.

"Okay, umm… I have been to Korea." Jin said, taking a small sip of his drink.

"Really?! I've been there too!" Hwoarang joked. Ling narrowed her eyes at the Japanese suspiciously. 

"When?" Ling said in a low tone, eyeing Jin's every movement.

"I think I was five or six. My mother had some close friends who were extremely devoted to Tae Kown Do and she wanted to visit them. I don't remember much, though…" the Japanese said softly, 

"Probably because everyone was speaking Korean and I had no idea what was going, but at least I got to chase some bunnies!" Jin smiled happily and took another taste of his sake. Ling released a low growl from her throat and drank her fourth drink. Before any of the liquid when down to her stomach gagged at the heated sensation that touched her tongue and had to cover her mouth to prevent it from coming up. The Chinese girl's attention quickly turned to Hwoarang, still clasping her hands over her mouth. Her eyes darkened at the Korean as she mumbled or tried to scream some words at him. 

"Did you like _your medicine?" the Korean asked, pulling the deadly bottle into his hand._

"Or should I say, your E-VU-KU-I-RU?" _(~ Everclear)_ Hwoarang added, annunciating every katakana syllable. Once Ling had forced herself to swallow the flaming poison, she swiftly pulled herself to her feet and stood with her shadow looming over the Korean.

"You little-" Ling managed to say before her foot slipped when she tried to take a step. The Chinese girl lost her balance and ended up falling right into the Korean's arms.

"Whoa there!" Hwoarang cried, pulling Ling into his embrace before she toppled against the spa. Jin nearly tossed his glass to the side and rushed over to Ling's side.

"Ling! Are you all right?" Jin asked with a worried face. Ling immediately tore herself out of Hwoarang's arms and brushed her hair back.

"Of course I am!" The girl said firmly. Hwoarang raised an eyebrow and looked at Jin… they both didn't buy it.

"Well, we better play a different game." The Korean said, putting the Everclear away in the handbag.

"NO WAY!!" Ling cried, jumping into Hwoarang's face.

"But you could hurt yourself, Ling, " A hint of concern could be detected in Jin's voice.  

"Come on, it'll still be fun! _Truth or Dare_ is actually more fun than _I Have, I Have Not_." The Korean said, placing his glass aside and pulling the Kira bottle into his hand.

"I guess so." Ling replied, grumbling under her breath.

"Look, I'll prove it to you, Truth or Dare, Ling?" The Korean asked, reclining into his seat.

"MMmmmm, DARE!" Ling decided instantly.

"All right, you have to stay out of the hot springs for two rounds." The Korean said casually, taking a sip of his sake.

"WHAT?" The girl's voice was very low.

"I told you it would be fun… for me!" Hwoarang cackled evilly as Ling pulled herself out of the hot tub and sat on a rock with her legs cross. The Chinese girl crossed her arms in front of her chest, holding and hide her eyes underneath her lowered eyebrows.

"Don't get so pissy about it, besides you can pick on me or Jin." The Korean said, giving Jin a pat on the back. 

"I'd rather have fun with Jin, thank you!" The Chinese stated, holding her nose high in the air.

"Oh, Jinny!" Ling sang sweetly. 

"Wha-What?" Jin replied while bracing himself for the girls' deviant mind.

"TRUTH…  OR DARE?" A mischievous grin swept across her face as she spoke those words.

"Uhh… " Jin said hesitating on his final answer, "Tru.. th." Ling's smile grew even bigger at that response.

"He-hee! How big are you?" Obviously, she was prepared for both truth and dare.

"Big? I'm 5' 11"." The Japanese replied, confused.

"I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about him!" Ling explained by pointing to the Japanese's crouch.

"Wha- I don't know how big-" Jin paused for a moment, giving it something thought, "I don't know how big _he_ is!" Ling whipped her camera right in front of her eye, placing her other hand on her hip while recording this event.

"Then you're gonna have to found out!" Ling stated, holding out her palm flat. Jin just stared at her hand, he had no idea what it meant.

"Come on!" The camerawoman encouraged, motioning Jin to come closer. The Japanese sighed and walked to the other side of the hot tub. Ling held her hand up again as if she was going to give Jin a high-five, but all she got was a dense look from the Japanese. A long scoff rolled off the girl's tongue and she began to imitate the movement of her hand making a high-five. The look of realization crept across the Japanese face.

"Oh!" Jin exclaimed with a smile and placed his palm against Ling's. The Chinese studied Jin's hand carefully and compared to her own before giving her synopsis. 

"Okay, your hand is eight inches, use that as your ruler!" Ling concluding, quickly withdrawing her hand away from the Japanese. Silence reign the moment while the Chinese girl tapped her fingers on her hip. 

"NOW?! WITH MY HAND?!" The Japanese said, nearly gasping. A growl escaped from the irritated girl as she pulled both of her hands to her hips.

"Oh, come on, Jin, its not like you've ever touched yourself before!" Ling complained.

"… " All the Japanese could do was slip his hands between his knees and lowered his head like a child.

"You've never touched yourself?" Ling asked seriously with a blank stare.

"Of course not!" The Japanese replied defensively.

"NO.WAY!" The camerawoman yelled. The camcorder nearly fell out of her hand from the shock Ling was in, but was swiftly saved by the girl's fast reflexes.

"Fuck! You _are a virgin, Jin!" Hwoarang blurted out. The Korean sighed to himself… he really was going to corrupt poor, innocent Jin. The Japanese meanwhile, turned to a beet red._

"Well, okay… that's strange and _unnatural,_ but you're still gonna have to find out because I demand an answer!" The Chinese girl whined. The Japanese sulked in his corner and hung his head,

"Okay..." Jin said with a whimper. As Jin took a deep breath of preparation and exhaled a long sigh while Ling hummed away.

_"Ling." Hwoarang said sternly. _

"What?" Ling said, sounding innocently. The Korean motioned his finger for her to turn around so she couldn't watch the Japanese.

"Oh, come on!!" The Chinese girl rolled her eyes and turned her back to Jin as she began to pout. Every now and then, she could be seen taking a quick peek over her shoulder. Hwoarang respectfully looked away, still enjoying his Kira. After some splashing had occurred and a shuffle of stillness, Jin finally spoke up.

"… Eight… nine… inches." Hwoarang whipped around with his mouth gaping at the Japanese.

"Holy shit, Jin!" The Korean cursed loudly, which made Jin turn to a darker red.

"Wha- Is that a good thing?" Ling asked with a confused face.

"Yeah! He's _well above average you could say!" Hwoarang claimed, waving his sake bottle around. Ling closed her eyes tightly as she grinned widely, hopping behind Hwoarang._

"He-heh! How about you? Are you _well above_ average?" Ling asked, poking at the Korean's shoulder.

"Tsh, I wish, I'm above average, but not as much as Jin." Korean said truthfully, taking a long sip from the sake bottle.

"Ha-ha! Jin's more of man than you!!" Ling laughed, pointing her mocking finger at the Korean. Hwoarang spitted out the alcohol he was drinking at that comment. Jin turned even more red.

"Hey! It's not the size that counts, it's what you do with it! That and girth is more important!" The Korean replied defensively, wiping his lips dry.

"Girth? What's girth?!" Ling yelled with a frown, frustrated with her lack of "experience."

"I think if we continue this conversation any longer, Jin's gonna pass out from all the blood rushing to his head." Hwoarang said, eyeing the Japanese with a smile from the corner of his eyes. Ling looked over at the maroon colored Jin and tried to stifle her laughter, but she couldn't hold back. The Chinese girl laughed at the Japanese's misfortune. Jin cowered in his corner, covering his crimson face in his hands. The Korean sighed softly at the Japanese and leaned closer to him.

The Korean quietly whispered to the Japanese before returning slyly to his seat. The Japanese's eyes peered up and glanced over at the Korean who was smiling at him. Jin grew a warm smile and look at the snorting Ling.

"Uh… Ling!" The Japanese managed to say. The Chinese girl chuckled herself to a stop and looked up, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Kawaii desu yo, Jinni-Chan!" _(You're so cute, Little Jin)_ The girl twittered to herself. Jin slightly frowned at that nickname and exhaled a sigh.

"Truth or Dare?" Jin asked.

"After what I did to you, truth, of course!" The girl chortled in reply. She paused for a moment after her answer then snapped her attention back to Jin.

"No, wait!" Ling said, holding her finger in the air, "I'm not scared of you! Dare!" Jin could only smile, it amazed the Japanese that Hwoarang knew Ling would chose "truth".

"Give me your towel AND your camcorder." The Japanese demanded, holding out his hand. Ling narrowed her eyes at the Japanese's hand and looked up into his eyes. 

**"What.am.I.suppose.to.wear_?" Ling said with a sharp, low tone._**

"Your birthday suit?" The Korean teased. A camera came flying at Hwoarang's face shortly after he made that comment. Jin quickly snapped the camcorder into his hand and held out his other hand to Ling. A growl passed through the girl's gritted teeth and in a split second, she dragged the sake handbag into her hands.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing with that?!" The Korean said, being defensive about the alcohol. The Chinese girl ignored him while she slipped off her towel and hunched behind the Hello Kitty handbag with her legs uncrossed, and firmly together. The Japanese shortly afterwards was greeted by a wet, cold towel. Hwoarang lifted an eyebrow at the towel that was draped over Jin. The Japanese peered from behind the cloth and shrugged as he placed her electric gear on the side of the spa.

"You do realize that that towel was wrapped around her ass, don't you?" Hwoarang stated, tipping his head back as he took another drink of his sake. The Japanese stiffened at those words and slowly peeled the towel off of him with a shocked look on his face.

"HWOARANG!!" The girl screamed, clenching the bag tightly in her hands. The Korean looked up calmly at the girl as a smirk appeared across his face.

"TRUTH OR DARE?!?!" Ling roared, ready to pounce and rip the red head apart.

"Are you crazy?! Truth, of course!" The Korean answered with his hands in the air as if it was the most obvious answer in the world. A smile seeped into the girl's lips, she was expecting that answer.

"Your call," Ling warned while lacing her fingers together on her lap, resting her elbows on her knees.

"How many people did you sleep with an-" The Chinese girl attempted to say until Hwoarang cut her off.

                "THAT IS VERY PERSONAL-!"

                "And you should have thought of that when you answered Truth!" The Chinese girl retorted. A fierce growl shook inside the Korean's throat. Hwoarang released a heavy sigh through his nostrils and rose up two of his fingers.

                "ONLY TWO!!?!?!?" Ling stormed, slamming her hands on her thighs.

                "What?! It's not like I hump everything in sight!" The Korean yelled back with his shoulder raised and his hand waving around. 

                _"NOOOO, but you're always acting like the Korean Don Juan Casanova Mac Daddy Player!" The girl roared, moving her body to the motion of her words as she placed her hands on her hips._

                _"NOOOO," The Korean mimicked, __"People treat me like one, but I never acted like one. They, be girls or men, came to me acting whorish, NOT VICE-A-VERSA." Hwoarang explained carefully, exhaling a tired breath. Ling's eyebrows tightened around her eyes as she glaring directly at the Korean._

"Who were they?" Ling asked her in coarse voice with her head turned slightly to the side.

                "You used up your turn already, LING!" Hwoarang was on the verge of strangling that girl just to make her shut up. Ling rolled her eyes and she sighed tiredly.

                "No, I didn't, you cut me off before I could finish my sentence, which is and was: How many people did you sleep with AND who were they?" Ling was on the edge of her rock, tapping her fingertips madly on her legs.

                "You are a bitch." Hwoarang said, staring dead straight into her eyes.

                "Who. Were. They?" Ling asked, moving her finger to the syllables of her sentence like she was humming a song. Another sigh was released wearily from the Korean as he leaned the back of his head on the side of hot tub.

                "Ikari… and Ren." The Korean said softly. Ling blinked a few times, trying to place the names in her memory.

                "Ikari and Ren? …Ren? Ren? REN? REN?! YOU SLEPT WITH REN?!?!" Ling screamed, leaning over her legs.

                "Why don't you scream it a little louder_, _I don't think _the far corners of the** EARTH HEARD YOU!!!"**_ The Korean thundered, baring his clenched teeth.

                "Who's… Ren?" Jin said with a faceless expression, sounding like a faint whisper.

                "Ren is Hwoarang's roommate!" Ling blinked at her own words as a sudden thought came to her mind.

"YOU'VE BEEN GAY THIS ENTIRE TIME AND YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TOLD ME!" The enraged girl screamed, wildly shaking her pointed finger at the Korean.

                "I WONDER WHY!!!" The Korean replied at the hysteric girl, grabbing at his own hair.

                "You've soooooo gotta tell me about this!!" The girl begged, clasping her hands together. The Korean stopped, thought about it keeping the girl in suspense and still gave his original answer.

"Like hell I do!" Hwoarang retorted.

"Please, please, PLEASE!!" Ling pleaded, falling to her knees. 

"NO!" The Korean replied stubbornly and looked away, but Ling wouldn't listen. She crawled into the hot tub and clung to Hwoarang tightly as she continued to whine.

"PLEEEAAAASE, HWOARANGY!!!" The Korean's eyes grew wide at the fact he was being groped by a naked girl. The Korean tried to pry the girl's arms off of him, but her arms were wrapped securely around his waist.

"GET OFF ME!!" Hwoarang yelled, striving to push the girl off of him. The two struggled through the water, they both were equally headstrong and obstinate. During battle for freedom, the Korean lost his footing and collapsed into the water, Ling was still clinging to him underwater. The Korean gargled violently in the water as he successful pushed Ling off of him. The Korean seized the opportunity and pulled himself to the surface, gasping for air and realize he was facing a red Jin who was only inches away. Hwoarang glanced down at his previous location and found out he was on Jin's lap… again.

"Déjà vu?" The Korean asked the blushing Jin with a raised eyebrow. A few seconds later, Ling finally yanked herself out of the water.

"HWOARANG!!!" The girl growled, standing at her full height with her hands balled into fists at her side. Jin stared wide-eyed at the sight of Chinese girl with his hair standing up on end. Meanwhile, Hwoarang, who was still in Jin's lap, gaped and pointed at the state of the girl.

"Ling…" Hwoarang attempted to say.

"WHAT?!!?" Ling stormed, splashing some water as she stomped her foot.

"You're very… naked." The Korean finally managed to say. Ling slowly looked down, her hair flaring outward as she grew more aware of her naked state. A scream echoed throughout the forest, which even frightened away the birds. The Chinese girl flustered around in the water looking for cover as the shock-induced boys tried to snap back to reality. Hwoarang shook the image out of his head and turned back to Jin. Jin attempted a smile, but it faded softly away. Hwoarang nearly winced at the sight of him and moved closer to the Japanese.

"Jin… are you okay?" The Korean asked with a hint of concern in his voice. Hwoarang gazed into the soul of the Japanese's eyes, but Jin looked away. The Korean sighed gently, he knew it was about Ren and he knew he had some explaining to do, but right now all he wanted was to see Jin happy… Just the look on Jin's face alone hurt his heart. 

"Hey…" The Korean placed his hand delicately underneath the Japanese's chin and gently pulled Jin to face him. Hwoarang smiled tenderly when their eyes met and gently caressed the Japanese's silky lips. A delicate hand lightly traced around Jin's smooth lips and softly stroked the Japanese's gentle throat. Jin could feel the Korean's sincere concern flowing throughout his body from Hwoarang's gentle touch and felt his sad smile drifting away. His lips breathed out a contented sigh while he closed his eyes, thinking they were the only two people in the world. However, their moods were disrupted once again by none other than Ling.

"Hey, Lover Boy!" Ling shouted, splashing some water on Hwoarang. The Korean's mood quickly matched that of his damp hair and glared over his shoulder at the little nuisance. Hwoarang's scowl stared right at Ling as if it was saying **"WHAT?" but the Chinese girl just stuck out her tongue at that expression.**

"It's your turn!" The girl sang cheerfully, clenching a bag to her chest. A growl escaped from the Korean as he dragged himself away from the Japanese. 

"Fine!" A hint of irritation could be detected in the Korean's tone. Hwoarang plopped back down in his corner and dwelled on what he should do with his turn. A sudden idea struck the Korean and quickly turned his attention to Jin.

"Jin, truth or dare?" The Korean asked with a coy grin. Jin's eyes grew wide at the expression on Hwoarang's face, something inside him had sensed that Hwoarang wanted him to chose dare, but the Japanese was slightly scared of what the Korean had planned for him.

"Uhhh… dare?" The Japanese said, unsure of his answer. The smirk on Hwoarang's face grew bigger at that response and slowly spread his legs apart. 

"I want you to sit here for the rest of the game." Hwoarang demanded, pointing down at his lap. Jin turned instant red and stopped breathing when he stared at the Korean's lap. When the Japanese gathered enough courage, he began to slowly walk over to the Korean. Jin could feel a gulp developing in his throat the closer he got to Hwoarang. Hwoarang flashed a smile.

"Come on, I won't bite… _hard_." The Korean teased, holding out his hand. Jin stretched out his hand nervously as Hwoarang pulled him into his lap. The Japanese sat between the Korean's legs with his back to him. The Chinese girl sat there with amusement while Jin settled down.

"Nin' chi- hao`', Hwoarangy!" _(Bon appetit, Hwoarangy!)_ The girl said with a mischievous grin. Jin gave a bewildered look at Ling, he had no idea what she said. Hwoarang, however, understood every word and smiled slyly over the Japanese's shoulder. The Korean slipped his chin over the nape of Jin's neck and nibbled on the Japanese's ear.

"Hao`' chi- ji' le!" _(De-li-cious!) The Korean whispered seductively against the Japanese's ear. Hwoarang felt Jin tensing up and cowered slightly into a ball at his comment. Hwoarang let out a laugh._

"Don't worry," The Korean said, draping his hands around the Japanese, "It's not like my hand's gonna slip into the wrong place." Hwoarang smile turn into a grin as one of his hands slipped of Jin's firm abdomen and lightly gazed his fingertips against the Japanese's inner thigh.

**_"Hwoarang!"_ The Japanese cried out, clasping his legs together, cringing more into a small space. **

"I'm just messing with you, Jin!" The Korean said with a bright laugh, wrapping his arms around the Japanese's sides, placing his chin on Jin's shoulder. There was still a red streak across the Japanese's cheek, but Hwoarang only smiled and nudged his head against him lovingly.

"Oh, oh, OH, OH!!! I wanna go next!!" The girl suddenly pleaded. Hwoarang lifted himself off the Japanese's shoulder, glaring at Ling.

"You just went!!" The Korean retorted.

"I wanna go again!!" The impatient girl screamed.

"NO!" Hwoarang said stubbornly. Ling started splashing the water wildly as she whined.

"I wanna go, _I wanna go, I WANNA GO, **I WANNA GO**, I WANNA GO!!!!" **The girl's cants filled the air, she wasn't even taking breaths between her words. Soon, her cant turn into a whining, nagging scream that repeated her words over and over again. Hwoarang could bare it no longer.**_

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JIN, LET HER GO!!" The Korean wailed, slamming his head on the base of the Japanese's neck.

"All right!" The Japanese cried, wincing at the girl's high pitch shrieks. Ling instantly transformed into a giggly schoolgirl. 

"HE-HE!! Dare or Double Dare, Jin?" The deviant girl posed. She got a blank stare.

"Umm… isn't it truth or dare?" The Japanese asked.

"Not anymore!" Ling replied, shaking her head wildly like a mustang.

"I guess, dare," The Japanese said, not knowing the difference.

"You have to go three rounds without a towel!" Ling indicated, holding up three of her fingers. Jin gaped at the corrupt girl.

"WHAT?!" The Japanese cried, locking his knees even tighter together.

"That's no problem!" The Korean, whipping the towel off the Japanese in a flick of a wrist and tossing it into oblivion.

**_"HWOARANG!"_ The Japanese screamed, quickly wrapping his arms around his shoulders and crossing his legs firmly together. While the Japanese curled into his own little space between Hwoarang's legs, the Korean was giving Ling the thumbs-up and mouthing words of appreciation. Hwoarang turned his attention back to the Japanese and sighed a laugh as leaned over the Japanese's shoulder.**

"Come on, Jin. Have some faith in me, do you really think I would take advantage of you?" Hwoarang asked, resting on Jin's shoulder. The Japanese shook his head gently and glanced at Hwoarang from the corner of his eye.

"It's not that, it's just, well… it's embarrassing." Jin shuffled nervously, still hugging himself tightly.

"Hehehe! Jinny's insecure about his body!" Ling giggled.

"Ling!" The Japanese said with a blush. No matter how hard the Japanese tried, he couldn't shake that feeling of nakedness.

"I'm just not comfortable really with-" Jin stopped mid-sentence, he couldn't figure out to put his thoughts, his feelings into words.

"I don't see what you have to be shy about." Hwoarang said, slightly nuzzling into the Japanese's silky hair, breathing in Jin's sweet scent.

"Yeah, you're a hunk of meat, Jinny!" Ling stated happily.

"Just be glad that Ling doesn't have her camera anymore." Hwoarang added with a laugh, sliding his hand softly over the Japanese's broad shoulder. The Korean's fingertips tapped lightly on Jin's hand, trying to snuggle underneath the Japanese's palm. Jin managed a smile and looked over his shoulder as he slipped his hand softly over Hwoarang's. 

A pleasant smile crept across the girl's tipsy face, happily watching her two bishounens nuzzling each other. The thought to ruin the moment had crossed her mind, but she was in love with the sight of her two cuddly friends. Ling closed her eyes peacefully and gently tossed her head back. Her eyes drifted slowly open to reveal the snowy field night. White snowflakes sailed through the sky, covering the landscapes and buildings with a white blanket. Ling raised an eyebrow and sighed a quiet laugh, she didn't even realize it had been snowing for a while. The Chinese girl turned her attention back up to the sky and watched the snowflakes float by, listening to the laughs of her friends.

"Okashii desu ne." _(It's strange…)_ Ling whispered with a smile. The Korean and the Japanese heard her faintly and glanced up at the girl.

"What is?" Hwoarang asked, resting on the Japanese shoulder. Ling continued looking up at the sky as words flowed through her.

"How you two can be so happy together." The girl replied softly, gazing at the contrasting clouds with her eyes slightly closed, "All your doubts… insecurities… sadness, they all fade away when you two are together." She pulled herself, leaning barely over the water and watching the water sway upon itself. 

"The way Jin's fears drift away just from looking at you," Ling grew a bright smile and clenched her eyes cheerfully as she continued, "And you've guys only been together for two weeks." Hwoarang smiled warmly, interlocking his fingers into Jin's, glancing lovingly at the Japanese. As Jin blushed shyly, Ling exhaled a laugh and pulled her knees to her chest like a child.

"Just seeing you two… being with you two, makes me so happy." Ling said gently, resting her chin on her knees. Her eyes wandered off to the side, skimming over the sheet of snow, still in a dream like state.

"I don't think I've ever been so happy… and I'm in a strange place with a couple of guys I barely know." The Chinese girl rested her cheek on his knees, breathing in deep sighs.

"The same is here." Jin said happily. The Japanese glanced at the crouched girl then over his shoulder at Hwoarang, smiling meekly. 

"I've only met the both of you a little over a month ago, but it feels like I've known you two for an entire lifetime." The Japanese added in a quiet, timid tone, holding Hwoarang's hand even tighter. A heavy sigh slipped from the Korean's lips as he spoke his thoughts out loud.

"I don't know what the future holds for me…" Hwoarang said in soft voice, "But nothing would make me happier to know that both of you are in it." The Korean smiled happily

"It's like we complete each other. If I lost one of you… I don't know what I would do." Jin whispered sadly, pulling Hwoarang closer. The Japanese gazed teary eyed at the Chinese girl and tilted his head delicately.

"I don't want to go back… to China… I just want to be with you guys always." Ling murmured, hugging her knees tightly as she buried her head in her wrapped arms.

"Zutto…" _(Always…)_ The girl cried with a tone of sadness, gripping her legs tensely.

"Issho ni." _(Together.)_ The Japanese said faintly with a tear scrolling down his cheek while he held out his hand to sobbing girl. Ling gripped his hand firmly, not looking up as Jin pulled her to them. The Chinese girl collapsed into Jin's open arms, welcomed warmly as her cries turned into tears of joy. 

"Eien ni." _(Forever.)_ The Korean added softly, hugging the Japanese and the Chinese girl into his tender arms. The three of them held each other close, and cried their tears of appreciation, happiness, and love. As they wrapped themselves more and more into their loving embrace, they felt their world grow more beautiful as scarce moments passed. The night celebrated in their joy, dancing lively among the snowflakes and sailing through the emotions, the aura they imprinted upon the land. The world closed around them with its dark shadows, they thought of nothing, but each other… dreaming of a beautiful future.

_"Zutto… Issho ni… Eien ni."_

The And.

**"The Chronicles of Obsession: Desire", the continuation of "Innocence", is now available.**


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